


The Adimos Tapes

by Pandora_Homeros, Phinphang666



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abuse, Attempted Murder, Brainwashing, Deceit | Janus Sanders-centric, Graphic Description of Corpses, Kidnapping, M/M, Murder, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape, Stockholm Syndrome, Suicide Attempt, Unsympathetic Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Unsympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Villain Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Villain Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Weapons, brotherly anxceit - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:06:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 23
Words: 43,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24584281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandora_Homeros/pseuds/Pandora_Homeros, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phinphang666/pseuds/Phinphang666
Summary: ON HIATUS7 years ago, Virgil decides to spend the weekend at a cabin with his boyfriend at the time Patton. When he returns home two days later, he finds his mother brutally murdered and his twin brother Janus missing, but that was 7 years ago. He had all but given up ever seeing his brother again, so Virgil moved on with his life and married his high school sweetheart.Now his brother is home, and he won't tell anyone what happened. Though one thing is clear, Janus is convinced his captors will return for him.---I've never written anything on here before, so if I need to add more tags or something, do let me know. Fair warning, this is going to have graphic descriptions of torture and rape.I'm not entirely sure how many chapters there will be, but I am aiming for at least a 50,000 word count.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 200
Kudos: 151





	1. Present - Virgil

**Author's Note:**

> I'm doing this cause I want to practice my writing and because of quarantine. Enough said. Seriously though, if you see something I could improve on do let me know, I am actively trying to improve. If there's something that doesn't make sense, let me know too so I can fix it.

Out of all the things Virgil expected of the day, he would have never guessed this. Not in a million years. He couldn’t comprehend the words the officers in front of him said and barely registered the comforting hand of his husband on his shoulder. At some point, he was guided to the living room and sat down.

“Come in,” Patton called after the two officers who followed inside, sitting across from Virgil. “Here, love.” A cool glass of water was placed in his hands and Virgil sipped from it. Questions swarmed his mind, but not a single one made it past his lips as the officers continued.

“We found him a month ago, but he was in intensive care and refused to speak, so it was almost impossible to ID him at the time.” One officer spoke, sitting up straight and maintaining eye contact with Virgil. Meanwhile, the other kept his gaze down but maintained good posture. “He’s still…” The officer pondered an appropriate word, biting his bottom lip. “Scarred, and he won’t speak, but we’re certain it’s him.” 

“I want to see him, I have to see him,” Virgil blurted out, gripping the glass tightly with shaking shoulders as he fought back tears. As he fought back images of the video the bastards who took his twin brother sent him. It was no use though, fighting anything. “He must be so scared,” Hot tears spilled down his cheeks while images of his brother flashed in his head. The pure panic as Janus realized it wasn’t Virgil in the kitchen, the thud of his body falling on the hard tile after turning too fast to run away, the scream of the man-

“Virgil, breathe for me, please.” Patton cut through the memories and wrapped his arms around his husband, holding him close as he sobbed. They remained like that for some time, before he managed to calm down. 

“How did…did you find the son of a bitch who took him?” Virgil asked softly, still clinging to Patton who kissed his head. The officer’s words made both visibly tense, even Patton who appeared to remain completely calm otherwise.

“No, and I won’t lie to you,” Said officer sighed and leaned forward, head bowed slightly, “the only reason we found Janus is because they allowed us to.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“The FBI followed a trail of breadcrumbs they left, videos and notes, to a home. At that home, they found a closet full of VHS tapes, costumes, and in one of the front rooms a large box. In that box we found your brother, he had been left for us to find.” His voice betrayed the stoic composure he had been attempting to maintain. What he neglected to tell Virgil was that Janus had been left in a costume of his own, as if on display. A short dress with a mask over his head. He had been assumed dead at first, but after checking for a pulse, the FBI quickly brought in paramedics. Virgil did not need to hear that right now, though. “You need to prepare yourself when you see him, alright?” Virgil nodded, gulping down the rest of the water to try and quell the dryness in his mouth. 

The drive towards the hospital was painstakingly slow, and without the background noise of the radio it about drove Virgil insane. For obvious reasons, Patton had refused to allow his already upset husband to drive. Although, despite the gut-wrenching silence, neither spoke nor turned on the radio. They simply resigned to their thoughts for the 30-minute drive, Virgil’s mind drifting off to a better time. 

While the twins played Mario Kart together-including Janus’ pet snake, currently hanging on his shoulders-Janus gave his iconic grin and cheer after winning a race, 1st place. A smile that was contagious, even if Virgil barely made 6th place. Life had been so carefree, not a single worry. Their parents accepted that both of them were gay and loved them unconditionally despite the two being quite the handful at times. Virgil’s chest tightened as tears threatened to spill down his cheeks once more. Would Janus ever go back to be the gleeful kid he was before, he doubted it. After all, 7 years in what Virgil could only assume was a literal hell had to have damaged him irreparably. 

He unconsciously reached for his husbands’ arm, tugging lightly on his sleeve, lest he delved back into a panic attack. As a result, Patton hummed and held Virgil’s hand, intertwining their fingers while driving with his other. How had Janus changed? The question struck fear in his heart. 

When they arrived at the hospital, they still had not shared a single word between them, but their hands remained interlocked. Although, they had to break apart to step out of the car, but only for a moment. They walked together to a secluded wing of the hospital, two police officers standing outside a door. Janus’ room, it had to be. Virgil’s breath caught in his throat as the officers focused on them. 

“I’m…I’m here to see my brother.” He said as one officer stepped over to him.

“I’ll need to see ID,” Virgil nodded and reached with shaky hands for his wallet in his back pocket. Patton mirrored him, pulling out his own ID. The guard examined both, before speaking again, “Only family is allowed inside for now, Doctor’s orders.” He led Virgil inside the room, leaving Patton waiting outside with a solemn expression and arms held behind his back. 

“Janus?” Virgil softly called out to his twin who stared blankly up at the ceiling. As the words left his mouth though, Janus’ expression twisted to pain for a split second before becoming neutral. 

“Janus, this is your brother Virgil,” A doctor who had been sitting next to him, clipboard in hand, stood and slowly walked over to Virgil. “I’m Dr. Picani, a psychologist here.” Virgil vaguely recognized the handheld out for him, which he shook without sparing the doctor a glance. Rather than acknowledge Dr. Picani, Virgil looked his brother over. Before Janus had been pudgy, not fat, but he had weight on him, whereas the Janus in front of him had sunken in cheeks, thin and bony arms, and, as much as Virgil wanted to deny it, he assumed his legs were in the same condition despite the hospital blanket covering them. The most damning though was the left side of his face, multiple faint scars most likely from cuts. They stayed strictly on the left side where the only difference between the twins lay. His eyes, specifically, Janus’ once-vibrant golden colored eye, now dimmed with the horrors he endured.

Something else Virgil noted.

“Look, at me, Janus, please,” Virgil’s voice cracked. In spite of the pleading in Virgil’s voice, Janus kept his gaze down, staring at his lap albeit shifting uncomfortably under his stare. So as to prevent either from becoming too upset or setting Janus off, Picani in a hushed whisper scolded him.

“Do not get angry with him,” He held his wrist tightly, “The men who held him beat him into submission. Avoiding eye contact is the least of his worries, right now.” With that, Virgil completely deflated. 

“Please, just say something to me, Janus. Let me hear your voice again”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you want me to say.” Virgil about melted at his voice, it was barely audible, almost as if Janus was afraid. No terrified, he noted as Janus began rubbing the side of his leg, which was almost a bit of a relief. It was a nervous tick that Janus had before he had been taken, something those monsters neglected to take from him. Although, as soon as Virgil took notice the action ceased immediately and Janus began opening and closing his mouth attempting to speak, but nothing came out. Dr. Picani went to his side in a slow, but clear stride.

“It’s alright, Janus, you can say whatever you want,” He gently held his hand and the two shared a silent moment before Janus spoke again.

“What…I’m…I’m not sure,” Janus laughed dryly, and tears clung to his eyes while his body began to tremble. “Not sure what you want me to say…” He repeated that every so often and each time more heartbreaking than the last, Virgil couldn’t take it. He stepped closer to the bed and in a stern voice, demanded.

“Who took you?”

“Who took me, who took me,” Janus’ eyes glazed over, “the masters, they’re coming to get me right?” He gripped the doctor’s arm and met his gaze again, panic setting in his face. “They have to come to get me, I know I was bad, but they wouldn’t abandon me…” He mouthed the words ‘they love me,’ and Virgil’s stomach twisted. 

“Excuse me,” He rushed to the bathroom in the hospital room, hunching over the toilet and proceeded to throw up his breakfast, not noticing a reassuring hand on his back. 

“You have to be strong for him, I know this is hard, but you cannot lose it in front of Janus.” Dr. Picani said, sitting on the floor next to him and rubbing circles on his back as Virgil continued to dry heave. How could Virgil remain calm? His brother’s spirit was completely crushed, this wasn’t the sarcastic, witty twin he grew up with. This was a pathetic, beaten boy who had fallen for his captors. 

“He’s not Janus, what could they…” The question died on his lips. What could they have done to shatter him like this?

“He is Janus and he needs you now more than ever,” Picani shifted to stand and pulled his hand away, “he spent 7 years under their control, he needs understanding and reassurance to make a full recovery.” Virgil stood on his shaky legs and wiped his mouth. “If you truly cannot take him in then- “

“No, there’s no one else who can take him in, but you’re right, Dr.” Virgil straightened himself up. “I have to be strong for him.”


	2. Captive - Janus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus' first night held by his captors. There is mild torture in this chapter, a fair warning.

“What the fuck did you do?” A livid voice cut through the silence and darkness; Janus recognized it. 

“Roman? Oh, thank god, you gotta- “Janus attempted to plead for his release.

“See, this is why we pick out people together, I swear, you’re incompetent without my help.” Roman cut him off, “If you hadn’t been so sloppy, we might have been able to release him without cops breathing down our necks!” Janus flinched and began struggling against the chains that bound his hands together. He could tell they were held above his head, attached to a hook of some kind, and while he maintained a standing position, the fact his feet barely managed to touch the floor left him unable to do anything besides spin around. 

This made no sense, Roman was Virgil’s best friend! He wouldn’t kill him, right? Well, now that he thought about it, Roman did not sound thrilled at the fact he was even here to begin with, but still. That couldn’t be a good enough reason to kill him.

“You…you let me go,” He could hardly hide the quiver in his voice, and he was certain the other men took notice. “And-and I won’t…I won’t tell anyone.” He could feel his body shaking at this point, but it only worsened when a warm hand pressed against his cheek. 

“We can’t afford to take that risk, but,” Janus could feel the man’s breath against his ear, the rich voice he once thought beautiful continued, “if you’re a good slave, we won’t need to kill you.” 

“I’ll do whatever you want, please,” He could hear his heart beating in his chest, he did not want to be a toy for these two, but he would do what he needed to survive. It was better than dying and it gave him a chance to formulate an escape plan. A laugh yanked him from his thoughts, but it wasn’t Roman, although Roman was the one to speak; seeming to ignore the other man.

“Hmm, as inclined as I am to believe that, I’m afraid,” He chuckled and stepped back, “My partner wants to break you in a little first.” Janus struggled weakly against the chains again as panic set in, but Roman’s gentle hand stilled him. “Don’t worry, slave, I’ll take care of you afterward.” With that, he stepped back and Janus could hear him walk away.

“No please, please, please don’t hurt me.” Janus whimpered, the fear, clear in his voice. It made him sick, begging like this, but if it kept him safe, Janus was willing to throw away his pride. This wasn’t a situation where his snark would cause anything other than pain; it would probably end with him being killed or worse. He attempted to cower away as he heard the other man step forward, but he roughly grabbed him by the shirt and removed his blindfold. For the first time, he was able to see these two. Roman sat on an old, roughed up couch against a wall straight across from them and was setting up a tripod camera. The sick fucks planned on recording this. 

A rough, calloused hand grabbed his face and forced his head up to stare at a man that appeared all too similar to Roman, except for a white streak in his hair and a stupid mustache. It would have been easy to mistake the two otherwise. 

“What is your name?” He asked. The question confused Janus and he glanced at Roman who had turned on the camera, giving the other man a thumbs up. “I asked you a question!” A sharp pain burned through his stomach and took his breath away with a strained gasp. He groaned and lowered his head; the man had a fucking taser. He didn’t ask again before shocking him again in the stomach, and Janus almost puked. Well, he would have if there was anything there, instead he dry heaved and forced response.

“Janus…Janus Zika…” The words came out shaky and laced with fear; the last thing Janus wanted was to give this bastard the satisfaction of breaking him down, but if he pretended to relent, he could keep a small bit of himself tucked away from their grasps. 

“We don’t want him to pass out,” Roman said from behind the camera, and the man scoffed.

“This is my job, stay out of it,” He set the taser down on a table, “It’s my job to break them in, after all, you’re too soft.” Break them in? They did this before, of course, they did this before, why would he assume otherwise. Then they really had no intention of letting him live if no one else was there. “You ruined the anticipation!” Janus began struggling again, ignoring the drool trickling down his chin. “Ah, ah, ah, slave.” He kneed him in the stomach and Janus let out a grunt, the area numb yet tender at the same time. “You still haven’t told us your name,” He chuckled and pulled his head back by his hair. 

“My name? My name is…Janus...?” What the hell did this guy want from him? He was telling him his name. 

“You know your name,” He grinned and kneed him again in the stomach, setting that area further on fire. “And that isn’t it.”

“Oh god, just tell me what you want, I told you my name,” Janus sobbed, unable to hold the tears back anymore. “what’s...what’s my name, please?” 

“I thought you were smarter than this,” He licked his cheek, the smirk never leaving his face, “It’s ok, I’ll tell you your new name,” He wiped the tears from the other side of his face, “Your name is Slave.” His tears before were sniffles before compared to now, this was actually happening. The man held him close but still left him hanging and bound. “Shh, shh, it’s ok, slave,” When he said that, Janus cried harder. “Get it all out,” He rubbed his back and Janus buried his face in his chest.

“I wanna…go…home,” He choked out between sobs. The man shushed him again.

“There’s no home left, slave,” He kissed his head, “I killed your family, so we’re your home now.” Janus shook his head, his body trembling and his wails increasing in volume. He had to be lying, this was all a trick! Virgil was staying with Patton, and his dad was away on a business trip. All that was left was his mother. 

“No, no, no,” The man nodded, his eyes closing for a moment before pulling Janus’ hands away from the hook, letting him fall further into his arms. 

“Tell me you’re glad I killed them.”

What? 

“I said, tell me you’re glad I killed them.” Janus shook his head and he could hear Roman snicker in the background, though it appeared as though he tried to stifle it. He was laughing at him! 

“No,” He shook his head again and the man began dragging him over to a deep sink filled with water. Dig deep, he needed to dig deep, store something away from them. Regardless of the plan from before, Janus started struggling once more; dropping his entire weight and kicking the man who had no problem pulling him over to the sink. He screamed and cried as he was hoisted to his feet and had his face shoved in the water. Janus did not have time to hold his breath and so water rushed up and burned his lungs and nose. He pulled Janus back up by his hair, after what felt like an eternity, but had only been a few seconds.

“Tell me you’re happy I killed your family.” Janus coughed up water and struggled to breathe. As much as he wanted to live, bringing himself to actually say he was grateful for his family’s death? Whether true or not, was unbearable, and that’s why they were making Janus say it. Janus whimpered a quiet plea before his head was held underwater again, this time for longer. When he was let back up, he gave him a moment to catch his breath before Janus relented.

“I’m happy you killed my family,” He sobbed.

“Why?” 

“Because I didn’t like them,” The man held Janus close and ran his fingers through his hair, while he continued to cry. Not bothering to fight against the much stronger man,

“You’re a slave, you don’t need parents,” He continued his sick twisted form of comforting Janus. “We’re all you will ever have.” 

“We’re done recording, Remus,” Roman spoke up, “For now at least, let me take care of our good little slave.” The man-apparently named Remus-huffed and pulled Janus away from him. Janus hadn’t even been aware he was clinging to him, but he fell into Roman’s arms none the less. “Let’s lie you down,” He picked the shaking boy up, bridal style and turned to Remus, “Fix him something to eat and drink,” Roman ordered, not waiting for a response as he carried Janus to another room in what he assumed was a basement. There was a queen-sized bed, with black sheets, a nightstand with a lamp, and nothing else. Roman set him down on the bed and placed a ‘loving’ kiss on his forehead. “Let me see,” He gently Janus’ wet shirt up, unable to take it off though due to his bound hands. “A little bruising, he went easy on you,” He hummed as Remus entered the room, a plate of pizza rolls in one hand and a small glass of water in the other. 

“Eat, drink and then rest,” Remus set the plate and glass on the nightstand, Janus hesitating for a brief moment. There was no certainty that Remus hadn’t poisoned the food or water, they probably got off on earning his ‘trust,’ and then watching him die. Sensing his distrust, Roman ate one of the pizza rolls and took a swig from the glass. 

“See, not poisoned,” We have more in store for you. He didn’t say it, but that still hung in the air after his words. Still, Janus slowly ate the food provided and drank the water. “Good boy,” Roman smiled and began to walk out of the room, Remus following behind him. “Get some rest.” The door closed and left Janus in darkness once again. He attempted to turn on the lamp but found it impossible with his hands still bound. Then he tried to open the door, but it had been locked, of course.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” He fell back onto the bed and buried his face in the pillow, crying once again. With the pain in his abdomen and the lingering fear consuming him it was almost impossible to fall asleep, but he managed with the sick fact he felt strangely safe with at least Roman.


	3. Present - Virgil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to spoil anything. It's actually kinda hard to write from Virgil's perspective since everything is central to Janus, not going to lie. I'll try to write a chapter a day, but if I don't upload it probably means it's a long chapter or I had anything planned. I like to start and stop a lot.

It had been another week before Virgil was allowed to take Janus home, but he had fully recovered, so there was no reason for him to stay. Unless, of course, he was put in a mental facility, but Virgil refused to let that happen. His brother had spent long enough trapped. During that week, Patton and Virgil prepared a room for him and, by the doctor’s orders, locked away any medication or weapons he could potentially hurt himself with. In other words, they wanted to keep him from killing himself which was all too common response in the aftermath of such longstanding abuse. Well, they assumed due to his state when he came in, but Janus had still refused to speak on the matter. 

Virgil had sat in the backseat with Janus as Patton drove and could see the tension in his shoulders. For the most part, Janus had been ok with Virgil’s presence and even Patton’s when they had been introduced again, but as soon as they got to the car his entire body became stiff as a board and he kept his head down. Something to ponder later, now he needed to comfort his brother.

“Is it too bright? I got some sunglasses you can have if you want,” Virgil offered but received a slight nod from his brother. Immediately, but slowly so it wasn’t a sudden motion, Virgil pulled a pair of ray-ban sunglasses from his bag at his feet. It had been stashed with stuff Janus used to love and clothes for him to change into. He handed the glasses to Janus, who visibly relaxed when they were on. His shoulders lightened up on their tension and he leaned back, but still kept his head bowed and facing away from the window. 

“Thank you, Virgil,” A smile tugged at Janus’ lips, “The doctors said I was used to the light, but this is…this is comforting,” He tensed up again for a moment, wrapping his arms around himself before continuing, “Can I…Can I ask for something?”

“Yeah, of course, what do you need?” Janus was quiet, biting his lip, and Virgil could see the mental turmoil he was going through in preparation for his question.

“Can I borrow your hoodie?” It took a moment for Virgil to register it, but Janus must have taken his silence as hesitation. “I’m sorry, it’s just the masters always gave me one of their hoodies whenever I went outside. I know we’re twins, but you’ve always been taller than me, so your hoodie should be big enough…even if it’s not the same as the masters.” He said the last part under his breath, not a mumble, but a whisper.

“Sure,” Virgil removed his hoodie and handed it to Janus who instantly put it on, pulling the hood over his head. “They made you wear sunglasses too. Even if it was dark out?” Patton sent him a warning look through the rearview mirror, wanting him not to push it. “Sorry, I know you don’t want to talk about it.” What was more shocking was that they even let him out of wherever they held him enough times for him to develop a habit. If that was the right word for this. 

“No, it’s ok, but yeah, they said my eyes were strictly for them.” If Virgil could have seen his face, he’s sure it would have mirrored the fondness in his voice. 

The rest of the ride was made in silence. Although when they made it home and the car was fully stopped, Janus spoke up again.

“Can I get out of the car?” His hand hovered over the handle. The question stunned Virgil, who opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Thankfully, Patton saved the day.

“Of course, Jan, but you don’t need to ask permission for simple stuff like that if you don’t want to,” Patton said cheerfully, getting out of the car. Janus simply muttered a quiet ‘thank you’ before opening the door and stepping out as well. When they all entered the home, Janus stopped in the entryway, taking off the sunglasses and hoodie. 

“I don’t know why I thought…” Janus trailed off as he hung the hoodie up, walking around a corner in the home. It wasn’t the home the twins grew up in, but that was to be expected. They couldn’t stay in the home their mother was murdered in. Virgil’s stomach churned as images of his mother’s corpse, filled his head. Her body had been sliced open; her insides strewn throughout the house, her dead eyes staring back at him. They haunted him each night whenever he closed his eyes, some nights were worse than others, but Patton was always there for him. 

He instinctually went over to his husband and hugged him tightly, who, though a bit taken back by the sudden affection, gracefully returned the hug. Planting a loving kiss on his storm cloud’s head. They couldn’t stay like that forever though, Janus needed help to get situated and the last thing that should be on his mind was his own problems. He had to be strong, for Janus. So, he pulled away from Patton’s embrace and smiled at his twin.

“Let me show you to your room.”

That night Janus said nothing else, with exception to asking if he was allowed to eat or leave his room or even use the bathroom. The boy was completely lost and seeing him shattered Virgil’s heart. Fuck, why did all of this have to happen? He rubbed his face and crashed onto the couch, curling up on his side. His chest felt like it was going to cave in, he needed to talk to someone. Patton was a great listener, but he didn’t add much to a conversation, preferring to let his angsty husband rant about whatever. Besides it was almost 2 in the morning and Patton was fast asleep, for this reason, there was no way he would wake him. Not for his own petty problems. Someone had to pull him from his thoughts instead of letting him delve further. So, he called the only other friend he knew who would be up at this hour.

“Still up?” A melodic voice came through his phone, “Just bored or you want to talk about something?” 

“Well, talk, of course, why else would I call you? Just to hear you breathe, that’s weird,” Virgil chuckled. There was a rustle on his end of the line, and someone whispered something to Roman, but he couldn’t make it out. “Was this a bad time?”  
“What? Oh, no, my brother’s just being an idiot,” He sounded like he was walking upstairs before continuing. “So, spill the tea, storm cloud.”

“Ahhhh,” Virgil whined, draping his arm over his eyes, “you know only Patton’s allowed to call me that,” He blushed and huffed, rolling onto his back as the other man laughed.

“Sure, sure, now spill.”

“Janus is finally home,” He blurted out. Silence. “Alive I should add, dad and I, we thought for sure we’d only ever find his body, but we got him back alive,” More silence. “Roman, is everything ok?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah,” Roman laughed, but it was slightly strained, probably from shock. “That’s amazing, do you know what happened?” 

“That’s the thing,” Virgil sighed and sat up, leaning back against the couch, the faint light from the TV illuminating the living room. “He won’t tell anyone, they did something horrible to him, I know it.”

“Well, I know you shouldn’t push him, I assume he’s seeing a therapist, but maybe talking to someone who isn’t family or detectives might help,” Roman suggested in a stoic tone. It didn’t make much sense, but what harm could it do to try? “Specifically, someone he sees has no motive; they will simply carry out a normal conversation.” Now that could work, but Patton had tried to talk to Janus about snakes or games, and every time he was shot down with one-word answers. 

“Maybe, I could ask Logan- “

“Logan is a cop though, let me talk to Janus.” 

“Logan also used to be Janus’ boyfriend, that might spark something in him, bring back who he was before,” Roman laughed, well, more snickered. “Hey, what the fuck, dude? This isn’t something to fucking laugh at.” Roman stifled himself and cleared his throat, but before he could apologize Virgil hung up. Great now his blood pressure was up, he wouldn’t get any sleep, at least he had the day off of work. Still, it wasn’t like Roman to laugh like that at something he knew was serious, even if he could be insensitive at times. 

“You coming to bed anytime soon, love?” Virgil about jumped ten feet in the air and will deny until the day he dies the yelp that left his mouth. This made Patton giggle, but it was silenced with a yawn. 

“Yeah, just…” He stood up and yawned himself, darn yawns being contagious. “I was talking to Roman,” Virgil explained as they made their way to their room. “And he seemed off, I don’t want him around Janus for now.” Patton pulled back the blankets and gave Virgil an unreadable look. 

“Did you tell him about Janus?”

“Well, yeah, he was really weird afterward and he laughed when I mentioned Logan,” The two laid down and Patton pulled his husband close, so his head was resting against his chest. “I can’t be here every day, so could you…”

“Don’t worry, whenever I’m here, I’ll ensure Roman stays away,” He hated asking this of Patton. He had his own problems to worry about, what with his college finals right around the corner, but once the summer came everything would calm down. Virgil would be able to focus on helping Janus and Patton would be done with school. Even if a vet residency didn’t pay well at first, this was something Patton wanted more than anything and he would support him every step of the way. “I can hear your thoughts from here,” Patton smiled, “Janus will be ok, I’ll finish up here and life can resume. If you’re really that concerned leaving Janus alone, we can always ask Logan or hire someone.” Hire someone? That was laughable, the only reason they could afford a therapist was due to the fact that Dr. Picani was willing to work pro bono for whatever reason. They still had yet to manage to pay his hospital fees. Damn it, his head hurt.


	4. Present - Janus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus deals with settling in. I had a chapter written before this one, but it literally made more sense after the next chapter I have planned. So I guess this is kind of a filler.

When Janus had laid his head down last night, he almost immediately fell asleep but found himself waking up every 2 hours. His stupid brain expecting the masters to walk in. This was Virgil’s and Patton’s home, not the masters, besides this door didn’t even have a lock on it. So, why did it feel like his old room? He had a twin-sized bed with gray sheets and a comforter-something his masters had neglected him- a dresser with a mirror, nightstand with a lamp that actually worked, and bookshelf filled with, well, books. It wasn’t cold in the room either, or maybe he only thought that due to finally having a thicker blanket. Thin sheets definitely kept the cold out, what was the point of them if he was constantly shivering most nights anyway. 

If it wasn’t for the smell of bacon, Janus would have never gotten out from his blanket burrito of warmth, but food. Good food it smelled like. His masters made him stuff to eat occasionally, but it was always reheated leftovers or frozen. Normally, he would need to wait for a master to bring food to him, even if he was sleeping in one of the master’s rooms to keep them company. This wasn’t there though, the number of times Janus had to keep reminding himself of that fact was startlingly high. He could only hope that they would come to retrieve him soon, there was no way Janus could live without them. Especially, if deciding to get out of bed was too hard of a decision. 

Fuck, he wished Patton or Virgil would tell him what he could and couldn’t do at least. Set some strict rules. No, instead Patton said he didn’t need to ask permission for simple stuff. What constituted as simple again? Leaving his room, perhaps? No, that was a huge deal before, he couldn’t leave without serious consideration from his masters. Getting out of bed? Yeah, he could do that, he could get out of bed and put some clothes on. The masters would usually dress him, but it wasn’t that big of a deal if he wore what he wanted whenever they weren’t planning on doing a scene that day. For the most part, he was comfortable with that arrangement and so, he untangled himself from his blanket burrito and strayed over to the dresser.

When he opened the top drawer to find a shirt, he was baffled to see these were all his old clothes. Janus had slept in the clothes Virgil brought him at the hospital, too scared to fuck up to change, so he hadn’t gone through the dresser. The top dresser drawer had been filled with his old t-shirts, folded vertical-exactly like before-this sentiment was not lost on Janus. He pulled out a shirt from the middle and unfolded it, it was gray and the softest of fabric. He had bought it at a zoo, simply because of the cute little cartoon snake on it and the extremely comfortable material. This shirt, he would wear this one. 

Janus removed his other shirt and when this one was placed on him it felt like a blanket. Had he really lost that much weight? It wasn’t like they starved him, he wasn’t always good enough and didn’t deserve to eat. His weight had been confirmed when he put on a pair of his jeans. They dropped to the floor. Oh. Shaky hands went to pull them back up, but he stopped when he caught his reflection in the mirror. 

“I’m so pathetic,” Janus stepped out of the jeans and folded them back up, deciding on sweatpants he could tie to stay up. It wasn’t like he owned a belt, well, if he remembered correctly, he did. So, where were they? He sifted through the drawers and found not a single belt. “I guess…they couldn’t keep everything?” Belts weren’t important right now. His stomach growled and reminded him of the food waiting in the kitchen. He walked over to the door but left his hand over the doorknob. “I can’t just walk out, what am I thinking,” Janus gave a breathy laugh before stepping back. Someone would come to get him. Yes, someone would come to get him.

Certainly.

How long had it been? A few minutes, maybe. Come on, Patton, Virgil. God, he was hungry. 

A knock on the door let Janus release a breath he did not realize he was holding. 

“Hey buddy, breakfast is ready, sorry if I woke ya,” Patton’s angelic voice filled the room, and Janus almost cried. That was enough permission, he thought. He opened the door after a moment and Patton was already walking back to the kitchen, so Janus followed. Patton fixed three plates of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, Janus basically drooling at this point. If the smell was anything to go on this breakfast would be divine. 

Apparently though, Patton hadn’t noticed Janus behind him and when he turned to grab a something from the fridge, screeched. Well, more like a yelp, honestly, but it was enough to send Janus cowering behind the archway to the kitchen. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I thought I could come out,” Janus fell to his knees, his whole body trembling with tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. 

“Hey, hey, it’s ok, you just startled me is all,” Patton walked over slowly and knelt in front of him, the man looked unsure whether or not he could touch him. “Can you breathe for me? In for 4, hold for 7 and exhale for 8?” Patton started breathing like that and Janus mirrored him. It was incredibly difficult at first, especially when his chest felt like it was being crushed, but he managed. After a couple of rounds of it, Janus had calmed down, albeit still shaking. “You’re not in trouble, and you most certainly don’t need permission to come out of your room, ok?” Patton gently took Janus’ hand and stood, helping Janus stand upright. 

“I’m sorry, I just- “

“None of that, you did nothing wrong,” Patton’s words helped put Janus at ease, but still left him reeling. The masters would have been furious with him, he would have been punished for certain. It was strange not being hurt. The two sat down at the table and Janus waited to be told to eat, Patton let out a soft sigh. “You can eat, I promise, you can do whatever you want here and nothing bad will happen,” Janus nodded and began eating slowly despite his stomach’s protests. 

At some point, Virgil walked in with the loudest yawn, but Patton only smiled.

“Morning, my little storm cloud, better eat before it gets cold.” Stormcloud? Janus chuckled and Patton grinned more while Virgil basically stopped in his tracks. His ‘laugh’ if you could call it that seemed to pull Virgil from his sleepy daze, but they made no comment. Virgil simply sat next to Patton and ate his breakfast, the faintest smile on his lips. 

After they had finished, Virgil cleaned up and Patton went to his office. Something about studying for something. Janus couldn’t tell since he only said it, Virgil. Meanwhile, Janus and Virgil sat on opposite ends of the couch together, watching The Office on Netflix. Like they used to.

“You want a blanket?” Virgil asked, and Janus nodded before wrapping himself up in a huge, fluffy purple blanket, Virgil handed him. So warm. Janus smiled; the office, a blanket, full belly. Oh, it was heavenly. He almost didn’t notice Virgil glancing at him every so often due to the pure bliss we was feeling. Nothing mattered right now.

Nothing at all, that was until someone rang the doorbell. 

“I’ll get it,” Virgil stood and walked over, Janus faintly heard the door opening and a few words being spoken on Virgil’s end.

“I heard Janus came home with you, I was wondering if I could see him,” That voice. It couldn’t be. 

“Yeah, but um, I’m sure you know he’s not…” Virgil said something in a hushed whisper before the two walked together to the living room. “Hey, Janus, I hope you don’t mind, Logan wanted to stop by and say hi,” Janus face burned a bright red as Logan kneeled in front of him donned in his police uniform.

“You…” Janus couldn’t form a sentence.

“I’m not entirely sure what to say either, mind if I sit with you?” Janus shook his head no, the first time he actually went against what anyone said. 

“You abandoned me, you left me with the masters!” He raised his voice, again for the first since he had arrived. Logan stood and sighed, not shocked at Janus’ reaction in the slightest. “I waited for you…” Damn it, he wouldn’t cry again. No way, not for him.

“I understand that’s how you feel, Janus, but I never stopped looking for you,” Logan respected his wishes and did not sit next to him but remained standing. “I went into missing persons instead of homicide, so I wasn’t the one working with the FBI when they found you,” Janus couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt for his words, it wasn’t Logan’s fault, none of this was, so why was he acting like it was? “I…I only wanted to see for myself that you were alive and ok.”

“I-I don’t care…I,” Janus looked around the room wildly, retreating into his blanket, covering his face. 

“I couldn’t protect you then, but I can now, and I promise, I won’t let anyone else hurt you again, Janus,” He shifted on the couch and pulled the blanket back enough so his one golden eye could look at Logan. There was no animosity or pity in Logan’s eyes. Janus would have expected either, but not whatever this was. Genuine concern and protectiveness. Fuck, a part of him missed Logan while another part wanted to smash his face in.

“Could you…wanna watch the Office with us, if you’re not busy?” Janus asked, trying to pat the spot next to him, but failed cause blanket burrito. A small smile graced Logan’s lip.

“I’d love to,” He sat next to him, leaving enough space between them for Janus to feel comfortable. Virgil sat back on the other end of the couch and pressed play. This was nice, Janus could do this.


	5. Present - Roman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is rape in this chapter, despite there being no obvious struggle. 
> 
> This was kinda fun to write from Roman's perspective, I don't know what that says about me. A bit of the motivation for taking Janus is revealed in this chapter along with why he stayed around Virgil even after destroying his family. 
> 
> Please don't hate Virgil in this chapter, he has no idea that Roman is the dick he is. He only wanted to keep his friend out of jail.

Damn it, this wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Remus was meant to kill Janus so the two of them could ditch this fucking country, but no. Remus had to fuck up like he always did! He couldn’t trust that trash man with anything. Janus was probably telling the police everything now! Damn it! Roman slammed his fist on the table, rattling the multiple beers and vodka bottles on the table. They were screwed, world-ending screwed. They’d get the death penalty for sure if Janus opened his big mouth. No way, they made it this far, he wouldn’t let a slave ruin this. 

Remus had been sitting across from him and showed no signs of fear in spite of his brother’s anger.

“You can blame me all you want, Roman, but we both know we’re in this situation because you just had to show off to the FBI,” Remus laughed and waved his arms, a beer bottle in one of his hands. “They had no idea who we were, they thought there were three separate killers, so they stayed clear of us, but you just had to give them those tapes, didn’t you!” Roman flashed him a warning glare, taking another shot. “You just had to prove you were smarter than them and now we’re gonna get what we deserve!” Roman stood quickly but swayed on his feet. Meanwhile, Remus continued talking. “Wonder what death penalty we’ll get, lethal injection,” Roman stepped in front of him, “Maybe electric chair, oh that’d be fitting for us, now wouldn’t it, dear brother?” Remus grinned as Roman grabbed him by the collar, but it held no weight behind it. 

“You, stupid fuck, of course, you’d get off on this,” Roman let him go and stumbled backward, falling onto his chair before taking another shot. “It’s your fault we even have to deal with him in the first place- “

“Jesus fucking Christ, Roman! That was 7 years ago! I didn’t mean to fuck up that bad, how I was I supposed to know Virgil had a twin brother? Not like you ever told me,” Remus whispered the last parts, a rare form of self-control, and lowered his voice for the rest. “I was sick and tired of you pretending our toys were Virgil, it was killing the vibe, I thought I was doing you a favor, and, you know what, I did,” Remus smirked and leaned forward, taking a swig from his beer. “Don’t pretend you didn’t love every second fucking his twin especially after days you spent with Virgil,” Remus taunted, his brother’s expression mixing into something he couldn’t quite tell. “You’d go hang out him, comfort him and say his brother would be found soon and then you,” Remus cackled, slapping his knee with his free hand, “You’d come back and split Janus in two, I don’t know whose torture was worse. The poor boy couldn’t ever walk when you were done with him.”

“Poor boy?” You would do well to restrain your words, Remus,” Roman scoffed, “The walls are always thin,” He warned, standing to fix himself a glass of water. “I’ll fix this, we simply need to finish the job with our little slave before he tells the police everything, and considering there haven’t been cops at our door-“ More hotel room, after the call with Virgil; the two had rushed over from their rented home in a panic to deal with this. “I doubt he’s said anything, yet, which means,” Roman leaned back against the counter, a smirk on his face. “He’s still the loyal little slave we forged out of a brat.” 

Roman had downed a couple of glasses of water and a coffee to sober himself up some, but he wasn’t dumb enough to drive right now. The last thing he needed was to end up in an accident, so he ordered an uber. He wouldn’t kill Janus tonight, no, he only needed to speak to him. To ensure the man was waiting for his masters like the good little slave Roman knows he is. Being drunk might work to his advantage though since Virgil wouldn’t let his friend sleep on the streets drunk no matter how pissed off, he was at them. Hopefully, he would probably need to apologize for laughing at the fact Logan would help Janus at all. When Roman heard Janus calling out to Logan in a hushed whisper whenever things became unbearable, he made certain to crush that light at the end of his tunnel. Although he couldn’t take away the hope that Logan would come and rescue him, he could turn that fantasy into a nightmare. If Logan stepped even a foot into that house Janus would, surely, panic. It was funny Virgil thought it would help Janus, sue him.

Now wasn’t the time to ponder that thought, Roman stood on the doorstep at about midnight and called Virgil. Knowing that Patton was asleep, and Virgil wouldn’t appreciate him being woken up. The phone rang for a bit and Roman almost thought Virgil would ignore his call.

“What the fuck do you want?” A groggy voice asked on the other line.

“Hey, Virge, can you come to the door?” A sigh rang through his phone, they had done this before since the two were both night owls. 

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” The emo man hung up and Roman waited for a moment before the door opened. Virgil stood in the doorway, towering over him. Well, not towering, he was only a little taller, but Roman made up for the difference with his toned muscles. Still, Virgil’s height kept him from seeing into the home. “What are you doing here, Roman?” 

“I uh…wanted to apologize for being an ass,” He rubbed his neck, avoiding eye contact.

“You couldn’t apologize over the phone?” Fuck, he was calling his bluff. Of course, Virgil would be suspicious. Act, act.

“Well, Patton always says it’s better to say you’re sorry in person. Has more meaning.”

“You’re drunk, I can smell the booze on your breath from here.” 

“Well, yeah,” He stopped hiding the slurring in his voice and the tension in his shoulders. “I’m sorry,” Lie. “I should go, you don’t need to deal with drunk me.” He turned away.

“Wait,” Bingo. “I’m still mad at you, dick, but you can’t just wander around drunk, you could get hurt or thrown in jail,” Virgil glanced inside, as Roman turned back around. “You can stay here tonight, but I swear to god if you so much as breath in Janus’ direction, I will hurt you.” Roman nodded, the venom in his voice sent shivers down his spine. “You can sleep on the couch.” 

Roman looked around the living room, no one else was there, but there were two blankets on the couch. It was nearly impossible to hold his smirk back; Janus had been down here. Virgil went to bed at about 3 in the morning, leaving Roman alone. At about this point. He was still drunk, but coherent enough to figure out which room was Janus’, specifically which one of the three-bedrooms was the guests. Since Patton had school, one room was turned into an office, while the other was Virgil and Patton’s. That left one. 

Roman wandered down the hallway, careful to keep the noise of his steps down. He tested the doorknob, no lock. Perfect, he grinned and opened the door, stepping inside. The room was dark, but Roman could make out the shape of a small man, bundled under layers of blankets. It was almost cute, how peaceful his little slave was fast asleep, too bad he had to wake him up. Else this whole trip would have been a waste. Roman walked over to Janus and planted a kiss on his cheek while holding his hand over the sleeping man’s mouth. Only firm enough to ensure he would be quiet.

Janus' eyes shot open and he whimpered, unable to make any other noise as he backed into the headboard. Whether from the hand over his mouth or the fact Roman was right in front of him, or perhaps both. Regardless, the pure fear on his slave’s face made everything worth it. If it wasn’t for the alcohol in his system, he would be hard without a doubt. It was a miracle he wasn’t, Roman never had a considerable amount of self-control when he had what he wanted. Still, he would need a more…secluded area for his plans. This home wouldn’t do. Not with Virgil and Patton in the next room over, but he could work with this.

“I’m going to take my hand away, and you’re going to keep that pretty mouth of yours shut, understand?” Janus gave a small nod and Roman removed his hand. Janus was breathing heavily through his nose, lips pressed into a thin line. “Good boy,” He caressed his cheek and let the frightened man lean into his hand. They stayed like that for a few moments before Roman leaned in and kissed him, tangling a hand in his hair to keep him from pulling away. He bit Janus' bottom lip and the man slowly opened for Roman to ravage his mouth. The whine that left Janus when Roman pulled back for air sent heat straight down where he wanted it. Fuck, maybe he could be a little hard, even if not fully. There was no fathomable way he could resist taking his slave right now. Or maybe that was the booze talking. “Lay back on the bed.”

Janus laid down, face flushing a brilliant red. While Janus situated himself, Roman removed the comforter from the bed and kept the sheets back. He was wearing a baggy t-shirt and boxers, nothing else. 

“I’d love for you to fight, but we need to keep quiet and since you’ve been great at keeping our names to yourself, I think you deserve a reward, don’t you?” Janus muttered a quiet ‘yes, master,’ before Roman palmed him through his boxers. The elicited another whimper from his toy, but Janus stifled it with his own hand. “Close your eyes,” Roman whispered in his slave’s ear, and right on command, Janus shut his eyes. Already used to the command, it was a rare occasion when Roman wanted to see his heterochromia eyes during sex. 

Roman pulled down his boxers and spat on his hand, stroking Janus’ until he grew hard. The man had kept a hand over his mouth to keep his noise to a minimum but couldn’t help the gasp when Roman took his entire length in his mouth. He bobbed his head and sucked on Janus’ cock, holding down his hips when his slave started getting needier. It was slightly demeaning sucking his slave off, but whatever, he would do whatever needed to ensure Janus was still under his control. They continued like that, until Janus bit on his hand and came in Roman’s mouth. Now, that, that was demeaning. Still, smile and be happy, you cannot let your slave betray you. Roman pulled away and stared down at the mess of man underneath him, planting a ‘loving’ kiss on his head. 

“You can open your eyes, my good little slave,” Roman said, which Janus happily obliged. “I’m going to leave, but I will return to you, it will only take a little longer.” He stood from the bed, ignoring his half-hard erection. For this plan to work, it required Janus’ full cooperation and loyalty. Anything less, and well, Remus was correct when he said they would get the death penalty. Especially when the FBI discovered the true body count. At the moment, Janus appeared completely enamored with the two killers, but he could not guarantee how long that would last. 

Roman left the room after obtaining a confirming “Yes, master,” from Janus, and proceeded to crash on the couch. 

It was essential he moved the plan along.


	6. Present - Virgil/Janus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is past rape in this chapter in the form of a flashback. 
> 
> The flashback onward in this chapter will be from Janus' point of view. I originally intended for this to be a single chapter (combined with the next one I have planned), but this alone was 3,000 words. Twice as long as my other chapters. Sooo, I'll break it up into two. 
> 
> I'm really happy about the response this has gotten! I thought I would post this and no one would read it, but people actually have and you guys like it!

Awaking to the smell of waffles, Virgil arose from his slumber and marched over to the kitchen but stopped in his tracks. No one was laying on the couch, and the blanket he lent Roman was neatly folded and put away. He must have left already, he shrugged off the weird feeling in the pit of his stomach and continued to the kitchen. Patton was making waffles with his back to him, so Virgil went up behind him and placed a hand on his waist and planted a kiss on his neck.

“Morning, cutie,” Virgil said in a deep voice strictly for when he wakes up. Patton shivered ever so slightly and smiled, light pink dusting his cheeks. 

“Good morning, my love,” His husband's cheerful voice was heaven to his ears. “How many waffles do you want?”

“If it’s just waffles, can I have two?” 

“Of course, but you’ll have to either get out from behind me or hand me the batter,” Patton chuckled and pointed to what used to be a big ketchup bottle, but was now reserved, strictly for the batter. It saved his lover time in the mornings to pre-make it. Virgil wouldn’t complain, no way, he loved his cooking. He reached over and handed him the bottle, watching him take a waffle out of their waffle maker while he remembered the last time he tried to cook in Patton’s kitchen. Virgil had wanted to make sugar cookies as a surprise, and it was going ok at first until he put the flour in. Let’s just say, there’s still a bit of flour on the ceiling. Worth it though to see Patton in absolute stitches on the floor. 

“Is Janus awake and getting ready? We have his appointment with Dr. Picani this morning,” Virgil asked, but only received a shrug.

“I’m worried about him; he doesn’t come out of his room unless someone actually goes to get him. He won’t eat without our say so, it breaks my heart. I remember how he was before, all sly smiles and witty comebacks. Now he’s…” Patton began tearing up, and Virgil held his smaller husband close to his chest. “He was always so strong too, I respected that about him, Virgil. He didn’t take anything from anyone, and he stood up for the both of us when those jerks found out about our relationship. But even a disapproving look is enough to scare him, I stay awake at night wondering what horrible things they could have done to break someone as strong as him!” Patton cried, burying his face in Virgil’s chest while his husband rubbed his back. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry,” He pulled back and Virgil wiped away his tears. “This is your brother- “

“Don’t apologize for feeling, Patton,” He kissed his head, “You have every right to be upset, let me finish making these waffles and you tell me everything that’s on your mind, ok?” Patton nodded and sniffled, stepping aside to let Virgil take over waffle duty. He opened the fridge and grabbed the jug of sweet tea he made the night before.

“I feel bad venting to you, though, you shouldn’t have to deal with any more stress,” Patton started, pouring himself a glass of the tea while Virgil raised his eyebrow and gave him the look. A look reserved for whenever Patton tried to stuff his feelings down deep. “Yeah…ok, ok,” Patton sipped his tea and leaned against the counter next to him. “Money is definitely a stressor at this point, but not because of Janus’ hospital fees, it’s my uni. I’m worried we won’t be able to pay it off now…yeah,” Virgil hummed in thought, but let his husband continue. “Then you’re going back to work tomorrow, and I’ll be left alone with him. It’s not a horrible thing, I just don’t know what to do. He’s way more comfortable with you than with me, but I suppose that’s my fault for not spending more time with him,” He sighed and stared down at his drink. “Argh, then my finals are closing in, then I have to take my veterinarian certification exam, and hope I can get a residency here,” He began tearing up again and after Virgil pulled another waffle from the waffle maker, he kissed Patton’s cheek. “I feel awful for worrying about this stuff now, it seems so…unimportant.”

“Unimportant? Love, don’t…your feelings are not unimportant just because Janus is here, ok?” Virgil stacked the waffles onto the plates and grabbed the syrup and butter. He looked over to Patton when he didn’t hear a response. The man was still staring down at his drink.

“What about you? How are you handling all this?” 

“Well, enough.” He kept his back to Patton as he brought the plates to the dining table.

“Virgil.”

“I know, I’m being a hypocrite, but I feel…angry,”

“What? Of course, you’d be furious with the killers- “

“No, I’m mad at Janus. Logan said that this is a coping mechanism people in situations like that go through to protect themselves, but he’s safe now. I don’t expect him to tell us everything, but not…not even telling the police who these murderers are?” Virgil turned back to Patton whose face burned a dark red before he took a calming breath.

“What if he doesn’t know who they are? What if he’s scared the information he has is not enough, what if he was held captive for 7 years and thinks that they love him and that he loves them because of God knows what?” Virgil had never seen Patton so angry before. He was always so gentle and kind, this didn’t suit him.

“You’re right, Patton, my feelings are a bit misplaced, I’m not really that mad at Janus,” That wasn’t a lie, sure he wanted to shake him a few times to get him to spill his information, but that was it. “It’s more frustration, I want to help him,” Patton had calmed down at his point and sighed. 

“We both do, but we have to be patient with him…and each other, I’m sorry I snapped at you,” Patton made grabby hands for his husband after setting his cup down and Virgil smiled, walking over to give him a hug. “This is such a tough year.”

“Agreed,” Virgil rested his head on Patton’s. 

“You should go get Janus, let him know breakfast is ready,” Virgil nodded and walked away after stealing a quick kiss. Now, came another challenge. They hadn’t gone out much since Janus’ had come home and today his brother had an appointment with Dr. Picani that afternoon. It shouldn’t be too bad as long as Janus would actually get ready. That was the only challenge, though, thankfully because Janus loved talking to Dr. Picani. Or at least, looked forward to seeing him. Something about attaching to the doctor when he first regained consciousness. Virgil couldn’t wrap his head around it, but it made enough sense. 

Virgil knocked on the door.

“Breakfast is ready, Janus, come on out,” He waited, they had learned last time to actually see him at least open the door. The man was silent when he wanted to be, almost creepy, if you didn’t know he was there he could easily startle you. And if one of them jumped or raised their voice, Janus went running. So, yeah, he waited. And waited. And waited. “Janus?”

He stepped inside the darkroom, the comforter discarded onto the floor with Janus curled up under the thin sheets, shivering and crying silently. God, it broke his heart, Virgil wished, desperately to understand what his brother was going through, but he still kept quiet about it. The only information about the case he got was from the police, Logan, and the occasional offhand comment from Janus. 

Or moments like these, when Janus had no idea where he was.

“I’m sorry, please, I’ll do whatever you want, just stop touching me.”  
________________________________________________________

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since the masters took him. Wait, what the hell, no, Roman, and Remus. Dig deep, Janus, come on, don’t let them get to you. He stared up at the bland ceiling, laying back on the bed and poor excuse for a pillow. It had given him a crick in the neck, but that was the least of his worries. Remus had beat the shit out of him about two days ago for refusing to call the two his masters, but most of the injuries were superficial. He had found that Remus was fond of physical torture, while Roman would stand to the side and record the entire thing. Probably getting off on it, but Janus couldn’t tell for sure. What the hell did Roman get out of letting Remus do whatever the hell he wanted? 

Well, that wasn’t entirely true, whenever Remus began to take it too far Roman would intervene. He brushed a particularly gruesome cut on his side, Roman had to stop Remus and patch him up before he bled out. It had been stitched and bandaged and the two had left him in this room to let him recover but had neglected to bring him any food. At first, Janus assumed they were going to let him die of dehydration, but Roman had come with water late last night. Now, he was left with only his thoughts and hunger pangs for the company. Guess whenever he was healing, they were less caring. It almost made Janus wished to be hurt again if it meant he could eat and have social interaction instead of staying isolated. Almost. 

“Might help if I talk to myself, fuck, I really hope they’re looking for me,” Who were they? Anyone, anyone at all. Cops, friends, Logan, family. His throat tightened. “What if they were telling the truth…they’re dead and no one’s looking for me,” Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks as his body shook with sobs he tried to suppress. “fuck, fuck, shut up, please, I don’t them to come down here and give me something to really cry about.” He curled up in the fetal position and sobbed quietly, his attempts to stop crying irrelevant as he held his knees to his chest. 

Logan wouldn’t stop looking for him, Logan would come to save him. Sure, he didn’t seem like the strong type, but Janus knew him. Once he finished his training at the police academy, he would come to save him. Yeah, that helped him calm down some, at least it quieted his cries to the occasional sniffle. That could be his little treasured thought to keep him sane while he figured out an escape plan. 

A particularly painful hunger pang through him and he leaned over the bed, dry heaving as his stomach ceased. Nothing but spit pooled at the side of the bed. He groaned and left his body hanging off the edge, his bound hands touching the floor and head upside down. He was too weak to bother pulling himself up.

“Well, now, little slave, feeling ill?” Roman spoke, Janus didn’t hear him walk in, but he couldn’t muster the energy to care or respond with more than a half-hearted groan. Logan, think of Logan. Even if everyone else is dead, Logan should be fine. He felt the bed dip as Roman sat beside him, rubbing circles on his back and as fucked up as it was, Janus actually enjoyed it. It was attention that wasn’t pain and he didn’t want it to stop. Even if he knew he should hate every interaction with them, but he couldn’t bring himself to right now. He needed some comfort. Nothing wrong with that. “Laying like this couldn’t possibly be helping,” Roman’s rich, sweet voice betrayed his actual personality. Though it sounded like he actually cared, Janus had to remind himself that this fucker kidnapped him and partook in his torture. Still, he allowed Roman to force him up onto the bed, laying back on his pillow.

“Can I eat, please…master,” The word left a sour taste in his mouth and his stomach tightened again. But from hunger or the blows to his ego, as he submitted, he couldn’t tell. Although, Roman’s smile made it a little worth it, at least he wasn’t mad at the question. 

“Slaves who are useless don’t get to eat,” He leaned over Janus and cupped his face in his hand. “I’m not into preforming the kind of torture Remus loves, so what can I make you do to earn your keep?” Roman’s smile turned to a sickening smirk and Janus felt the color drain from his face. He attempted to push Roman away, but he simply grabbed his bound hands and pinned them above his head. 

“Please don’t,” Janus whimpered as Roman kissed his neck, forcing the man’s head back by the hair. “Please, master, I’ll do anything else,” He hoped calling him that would stroke his ego enough to let him go, but it backfired. Roman chuckled against his skin and if Janus hadn’t been fearing for his life, he would have kicked him away. 

“Remus can’t have all the fun, now,” He pulled away and for the briefest moment, Janus thought he was going to leave him alone. That was dashed away though when Roman instead decided to pull his pants and boxers off. At this point, Janus zoned out and tried to find his happy place, imagining that it was Logan touching him instead of Roman. That it was Logan who flipped him onto his stomach and slid lubed fingers into him. Even though they never got the chance to get this far, they had been planning to when he finished with his training, but now. Well, now Roman was having him first.

Damn it, why did this have to happen? It wasn’t fair.

“You never did it with Logan, huh?” Roman chuckled, “You’re pretty tight unless somehow he let you top. I highly doubt that though.” 

“Shut up, isn’t it bad enough you fucking kidnapped me…” His body shook with tears and shame. A hand gripped his neck and stilled him.

“I did no such thing if you want to blame anyone, blame my idiot brother, not me. If he actually listened for once instead of acting on his own, he would have known that- “Roman stopped talking and his grip tightened on Janus’ neck. “But someone once said there are no mistakes, only happy accidents,” The hand left his neck. No, he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t do this! Before he could actually think about his actions, Janus turned onto his back and kicked against Roman’s chest to keep him away. The man grabbed his leg and laughed, pinning them down. “That’s more like it! Fight, my little slave,” Janus struggled against him and attempted to hit his face with his bound hands, but he caught him again. Pinning his hands down again while the boy writhed beneath him. “You still got so much fight left in you, guess Remus has been taking it too easy,” 

“I’m sorry, please, I’ll do whatever you want, just stop touching me.”

“See, that may work with Remus, but I promise you, I like a little struggle in the bedroom, so fight, slave,” And fight he did. Janus kicked and screamed, begged, and pleaded as the stronger male held him down forced himself inside him. Janus ass burned, Roman completely filling him. If he didn’t know any better, he would say he was bleeding. 

God, he lost.  
________________________________________________________

“Janus, can you tell me 5 things you see?” What? Why was Roman asking him that?

“Uh, I see you, master. I see the ceiling- “The master or Virgil, who was asking him again? Whoever they were look displeased by his answer.

“Can you see my hoodie?” He asked, and yeah, Janus could see his hoodie. It had purple patches, but it looked intentional and not from years of use. 

“Mhm, I see, your hair too,” It was darker than the master’s, a rich black-brown compared to light, reddish-brown. “And the sheets,” They were gray, not black, “And the walls, and the dresser.” Those weren’t there before.

“Good, name four things you feel.”

“The sheets again, the pillow, my baggy clothes and…your hand,” His brother had held his hand, rubbing circles with the pad of his thumb. 

“Great, now three things you can hear,” Virgil smiled, seeing Janus slowly come back to reality. 

“My breathing, his laughter,” Janus pulled his hand away and covered his ears, Roman’s laughter ringing through his head. Gentle hands pried his arms down.

“Can you hear my voice?” Janus nodded and sniffled, snot running down his nose even if his tears had dried up. “We’re almost done, two things you can smell.”

“Your…Your stupid body spray,” Janus gave a meek laugh, the first witty remark of his return. “And…waffles, I think?” 

“Yeah, I just finished helping Patton with breakfast,” Virgil smiled and moved to sit on the bed with him as Janus sat up, leaning against the headboard. “And one thing you taste.”

“A sour taste in my mouth probably leftover from those reheated Thai noodles last night.” 

“Good, now gimme a hug,” Virgil held his arms open, “Patton says hugs make everything feel better and I have to say, I agree” God, these two were the same dorks from 7 years ago, but Janus would be damned if he said he wasn’t inclined to hug it out with his brother. And hug him, he did, choosing to bury his face in the crook of his neck. This was the safest he felt ages. Virgil holding him, rubbing his back-fuck! He wasn’t wearing his boxers! Janus shot back from Virgil like he burned him and quickly hid his private parts under the sheets.

“Yeah, I was wondering but I wasn’t gonna say anything,” Virgil laughed and held his hands up to protect himself as Janus threw his pillow at him. 

“I-I wasn’t doing anything!” His face burned red, but Virgil only smiled as he stood from the bed. 

“Sure, sure, just come eat breakfast.” His brother walked out, “And you’re more than welcomed to come and go from your room as you please, you know? But don’t worry, I’ll remind you as many times as I need to,” With that, he left. Damn, that was close.


	7. Present - Janus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus has an appointment with Dr. Picani and deals with conflicting thoughts after Roman's last visit. 
> 
> Dear Grammarly, Picani is not spelled incorrectly, fight me.

“Why don’t I have any belts?” Janus muttered to himself, holding his jeans up with one hand as he searched his drawers. He had already eaten breakfast and, thankfully, Virgil had kept what happened between them. It was embarrassing enough to break down in front of him, Patton didn’t need to know. Virgil also hadn’t gotten a good look at his chicken legs. That was the last thing Janus wanted to deal with that today. “Fuck, I can’t wear sweatpants in front of the doctor,” He was the only guy who actually understood and didn’t look at him with fucking pity all the time. Janus wanted to look at least a little put together for him. “I guess I’ll ask Virgil,” He huffed and walked out of his room. Wait, he walked out of his room! Janus jumped back and slammed the door shut, his heart racing and breathing picking up. Someone came running over and Janus fell backward, pushing himself up against the farthest wall while holding his arms up to protect himself.

“Janus? Are you ok? What happened?” Patton’s sweet voice asked. Oh, that’s right, he wasn’t with the masters. 

“I should probably talk to the doctor about this, huh?” Janus gave a weak laugh, dropping his hands and letting his head hit the wall behind him. He attempted to get his breathing under control, but it was proving a difficult task, and damn that pissed him off. Why couldn’t he walk out of his own room without freaking out, it wasn’t fair!

“None of what happened to you was fair, buddy,” Shit, did he say that out loud? Patton sat across from him with a small, sad smile. Janus didn’t know how to feel about those words. Sure, the masters could be cruel, but they cared about him, right? In their own fucked up way. His thoughts were all jumbled, the masters will come back for him and take away all the confusion, he only needed to be patient. “Come on, let me help you up,” Patton stood and held his hand out which Janus gladly took, forgetting to hold his pants up. He could feel Patton’s gaze on his hips and legs before he quickly pulled his pants back up. Fuck! Hopefully, Patton would focus on his weight. The doctors had said Janus was still underweight, but not to the point where he needed further hospitalization. He had gotten used to how thin he was over the years, but apparently it was bad considering the slightly pained expression on Patton’s face. Either that or he saw the new scars that littered his thighs. “Come with me, I’ll get you a belt,” Janus nodded and followed Patton to his room where he got a belt. Not another word said between them.

“Ready to go, Janus?” Virgil asked. With that, they left for the car, after Janus stole his brother’s purple hoodie and sunglasses of course. What? It was good he did, considering the number of reporters standing on the front lawn barking questions on him.

“What was it like living with the Royal Butchers?”

“Are you the mysterious stranger in the tapes?”

“Why are you refusing to give the police any information?”

Virgil stood between him the reporters while he got in the car as if protecting his twin.

“If you don’t get off my property, I’ll have you written up for trespassing, just like the last ones,” Janus hid his face underneath the hoodie as they drove away, silently grateful Virgil let him commandeer his things. “Sorry about that, I’m usually able to get them to leave before you wake up.”

“Wha…How long has that been happening?” Considering the grimace Virgil made at his question, Janus had to assume the worst. 

“Since you’ve been back, but either Patton or I would call the cops to deal with their trespassing, it’s not a big deal. Wasn’t something you needed to worry about,” Virgil shrugged, but Janus said nothing. Virgil was right, but why did he feel so off now? After their questions, maybe? God, his head hurt. He rubbed his temples and leaned against the cool glass of the window. He felt like he was constantly playing tug of war with his thoughts and feelings. One minute he was ecstatic over the fact his master actually pleased him, neglecting himself to ensure his slave was taken care of. That his master had taken the time to let Janus know he would return for him. Janus knew that Roman loved him and therefore, he was willing to wait happily. Then the next he was curled up, crying and panicking, absolutely terrified over the prospect of being back in their clutches. And Janus knew that Roman was only using him. So, what was it? Did he want to go back or not? Did his masters love him or were they only using him? Well, he was a slave, his purpose was to serve, but that did not mean his masters didn’t also love him. 

Why did that answer still not sit right with him? Fuck, he couldn’t do this much longer. 

They made it to Dr. Picani’s office and Virgil walked him inside. There was a waiting room and door that led to a hallway Janus had walked down once during his hospitalization. One of the few times he actually did what he wanted, albeit after asking for permission. What? He liked the doctor and he didn’t stop by that day like he always did. Dr. Picani had been swamped with paperwork and when he saw the disheveled man walk into his office, he let him sit and talk to him while he finished up. Let’s just say, the gesture made his entire night. Said man called him back around the time of his appointment, leaving his brother behind. 

“How have you been doing since moving in with your brother?” Dr. Picani asked with his iconic smile, opening the door at the end of the hallway for Janus. He stepped in and examined the room. The desk was immaculate, organized, and free of clutter with exception to a few files resting on top. Janus could faintly see his name on the tab but made no comment on them.

“I…I’m not sure, I feel weird,” Janus attempted to convey his emotions as he sat on a plushy chair in the corner, while the doctor sat across from him on a similar chair. When he said nothing in response, Janus continued. “Like, I can do whatever I want there, but I don’t want to develop any bad habits before the masters come back for me,” Janus took his sunglasses off and hugged himself. 

“There’s a lot to unpack there,” Picani grabbed a notebook and jotted something down. “First off, why do you think the men who kidnapped you are going to come back? It would be incredibly risky.” Janus had to resist the urge to correct him. They were his masters, not the men who kidnapped him, but he was sure the doctor meant no ill will towards him. He also had to bite his tongue to keep last night to himself, but his silence only seemed to worry the doctor. Picani leaned forward, “Janus, I cannot stress enough that if they contact you, even if you can’t reveal who they are, you still need to tell someone. They do not have your best interest at heart- “

“Of course not, I’m a slave!” He chose to focus on the last part.

“Janus, you are not a slave anymore,” Picani reminded him in a stern voice with no hint of anger, frustration, or pity. Only care. It’s one of the many reasons he liked talking to him. Janus sunk into his chair and kept his gaze down, regardless though. Picani nodded and pushed his glasses up with the end of his pencil. “Before those men kidnapped you from your home, you were dating Logan, correct?” Janus nodded and slowly raised his head; glad the topic shifted a little. “Did Logan ever hurt you on purpose?” 

“I see what you’re getting at, doctor,” Janus sighed, tightening his arms around himself. “You’ve told me before, what they did wasn’t real love, someone who actually loved me wouldn’t hurt me like that. They were just using me…”

“I see,” He wrote something else down, “It’s not my job to tell you absolutes, only help you work through whatever you’re already feeling.”

“Yeah?”

“Those were your own words, weren’t they?” 

“I think…I don’t know, that’s the problem, I feel like I’m constantly fighting with myself.” 

“Do you want to know what I think?” Picani’s smile returned like they had a major breakthrough or something. Like the fact Janus was struggling to keep his thoughts straight was a good thing, but still, he wanted to know what the doctor thought. Janus respected him that much. He nodded, slowly unwrapping his arms from around himself. “The part of you that you hid away from them is finally able to come back, but the part that you allowed them to have is resisting. You spent so long protecting that small part, you’ve forgotten how to act any other way. That’s are my two cents though.” 

“Oh…that makes sense, why I want to go back, but at the same time I’m frightened to my core,” Janus looked over at the bookshelves, tiny stuffed animals and figurines lining the shelves. 

“That’s understandable, you went from having no autonomy to full control over your life in the span of a day, it will take time to adjust,” Picani said, writing something else down in his little notebook. 

“So, it’s normal to freak in front of my brother’s husband when I try to take a step out of my room?”

“Absolutely, the fact you even tried at all is astounding and cause for celebration,” Picani grinned, seeming genuinely pleased with this new information. Janus wouldn’t lie, the joy was contagious but short-lived as the doctor reached over and plucked a plush snake from a pile of stuffed animals next to him. “Do you think you’d be up for talking about them today?” The yellow cartoon snake had been their version of a safe word, so long as Janus held the snake, he felt comfortable enough to talk about what had happened in the past 7 years. No matter how insignificant or horrible. If he dropped the snake or simply refused to hold it anymore, the doctor knew to avoid the past and focus on what had happened since his release. When he held the plushie though, all bets were off. Picani would ask difficult questions. 

“Ok, you can ask…” He reached out and took the snake from Picani, holding it close to his chest. “but no promises I’ll be able to answer anything.” 

“I understand, now you mentioned before that they would allow you to actually stay upstairs with them whenever they were home and that they’d let you leave the house at night; did you ever attempt an escape during any of those times?” Picani fixed his glasses again, leaning back in his chair and crossing his left leg over his right. Janus hid his face behind the snake and rubbed his leg.

“A few times, yeah.”


	8. Captive/Present - Janus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning - Sedation, implied rape, murder, and self-harm. (only thing implied is the rape, just to be clear)
> 
> *totally not setting up how they get caught in this chapter*

How long had it been? A few months, maybe? Janus had no idea, but it was long enough for the masters to let him stay upstairs occasionally. Like right now, he was laying on Remus’ bed with the other holding him close. His bed wasn’t any more comfortable than his bed in the basement, hell Remus' didn’t even have a bed frame. It was a mattress on the floor with hastily thrown on sheets, a few blankets, and piss poor pillows. He would be damned if he didn’t say he loved Remus’ blankets though. They were softer and fluffier than Roman’s and Remus actually let him cuddle himself up underneath them whenever he was coming off the sedatives. Yeah, Remus had a thing for drugging Janus but said man couldn’t care less. Well, he freaked out at first, but now it was a welcomed escape from this hell. He would wake up with pain in the spots that would hurt after Roman was done with him, but Janus could deal as long as he wasn’t conscious. 

Speaking of which, it was time again. 

Remus sat up and went over to his dresser, leaving Janus to look around the room. It had trash everywhere, empty pizza boxes, soda cans, and God knows what growing on the dirty dishes littering the area. There was also a window with daylight peeking through the curtains, it had been cracked open to allow some of the foul air to be filtered out. 

“You know the drill, babe, hold out your arm,” Janus whined and held his arm out, reluctantly letting Remus wrap a blue tourniquet tightly around his arm. He felt for his vein, like he had many times before and put in the IV. Fuck, it didn’t matter if he had done this a million times before, it still hurt! Janus squirmed and Remus clicked his tongue. “You wanna blow your vein again, keep moving, be my guest,” With that Janus whimpered again but resigned himself to staying still. Thankfully, he only needed two sticks. The IV made no sense to Janus, he only ever injected one thing into him at a time, an IV wasn’t for a single injection, right? So, what else was Remus pumping into him while he was unconscious? 

A salty taste pulled him from his thoughts as Remus flushed the line with saline. Janus scrunched his nose up and smacked his lips a little, he hated that part too. It tasted absolutely awful but apparently was needed for some reason. Remus at least looked pleased whenever he made a face of disgust, so plus, he guessed. Now, came the sedatives.

“Count backward from 10, babe,” Remus ordered as he tapped a syringe before slowly injecting him with the concoction. His master rarely called him slave during these moments, as if he was pretending they were lovers or something. Janus couldn't figure out the reason behind the sudden change in attitude but he couldn't be bothered to care either. 

“10…9…8…” Darkness. When he awoke next the sun had set and Remus was lying next to him, asleep. Janus’ body felt heavy, he couldn’t lift even his head, but he could see enough to notice the IV had been taken out with a bandage wrapped around the site. Also, that he was dressed in different clothes, well, he only had a green t-shirt on but fitted like a nightgown. He parted his lips and felt air rush into his dry mouth, what he wouldn’t give for some water. A breeze blew into the room, the curtains swaying slightly. It sent goosebumps down his body, but then a thought came to him. The window was open. The home was only one story with exception to the basement, but he wasn’t in the basement. 

Janus tested his limbs again, his fingers twitching and his head turning towards said window. He could make, he had to make it. Come on, body! Move! He kept at it, forcing and failing to get his body to cooperate, adrenaline coursing through his veins, seeming to aid in his escape plan. He managed to compel his arms to move, which allowed him to drag himself out of the bed. Slamming onto the dirty carpet with a thud. He gripped onto it with all of his strength and pulled himself forward towards the window.

“What’s this?” A chuckle came from behind him and two strong hands pulled him back by his ankles, dragging him back across the carpet. “Where do you think you’re going, slave?” 

“Nooo,” Janus slurred. Remus picked him up, setting him back down on the bed with little effort. He was so close…wasn’t he?

“You’re so cute like this,” His master smirked and snapped a picture of Janus with his phone. What he did with it, Janus couldn’t figure. All he felt was defeat and hopelessness. Remus walked out of the room and called out to his other master, “Hey, Roman, you got the picture? Isn’t he adorable?” 

“Remus, what the fuck did I say about our phones? That’s why I bought that camera! What if the police got a hold-“ Roman was cut off when Remus shut the door behind him. Now, only a faint rumble through the wood.

Janus heard a soft click as Remus locked him inside. He flexed his hands, ignoring the slight burning on his legs and in-between them. He had to get moving again, Remus hadn’t closed the window, so he still had a chance. Especially, now that he regained partial feeling in his legs. 

One more time, come on, Janus. He forced himself up and onto his shaking legs, leaning against the wall for support as he walked over to the window. He collapsed in front of it, holding onto the curtains. Another cold night breeze blew in his face, his hair waving slightly. Oh God, it felt amazing. Without wasting one more second, he pushed the window up all the way and climbed out, crashing on the soft grass on the front lawn. 

Janus stumbled to his feet and started walking. Where? Anywhere but there. He walked up to the next home he came to and banged on the door.

“Heeeelp…pleeeease,” He slurred again, but no one answered. He tried a few other homes, but each with no response. “Sooomeone, pleeeease,” Janus sobbed, walking down some street. At some point, a police car pulled up beside him and he froze, eyes wide while he wrapped his arms around himself. 

“Sir, are you alright?” An officer stepped out of the car, and two firm hands gripped Janus’ shoulders from behind. 

“He’s fine, officer, had a little too much to drink,” Roman’s soothing rich voice flooded his ear, his grip tightening on Janus. The cop didn’t seem to buy it though and stepped closer to the two.

“Sir, do you know this man?” He asked, focusing on Janus and ignoring his master. He wanted to say something, anything, but nothing came out. The world spun around him and he fell back into Roman’s arms. It was too bright, the lights from his car. Where was he again? He couldn’t focus on the man in front of him, only letting out an incoherent whimper as his legs shook beneath him. 

“He’s my friend’s little brother, I’ll get him home safe, sir, I promise.” Roman sounded confident, but the officer still didn’t look convinced. He placed a hand on his holster.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to step away from him,” He ordered, but Roman only sighed. Before he could react, Roman pulled out his own gun, keeping a firm hand on Janus with his free hand. 

“I really didn’t want to have to do this tonight, but I can’t have things screwed up now. Remus, take his weapons.” And as if by magic, Remus appeared from the shadows and removed his gun from the holster, his taser, and other items. Meanwhile, Roman leaned down and whispered into the shorter man’s ear. “That was a close one, my little slave.” Janus cried softly and was pushed into Remus’ arms who picked him up with ease. 

“You won’t get away with this,” The officer glared as Roman pressed the gun to his chest, a smirk plastered on his face.

“We've been doing this for 3 years, two with the little one over there,” Roman laughed, while Remus carried him to a car parked in the darkness underneath a tree. “I think we’ll be fine, walk.” The officer was forced into the back of the car with Janus before they drove to where he had previously escaped. The ride was a blur of words, colors, and shadows. Janus vaguely recognized Remus driving and Roman keeping the gun pointed at the officer while his head rested in said officer’s lap. He couldn’t do it; he didn’t have any more strength left to fight or care. So, he let go and retreated back into unconsciousness. 

When he awoke again, his body still felt sluggish, but his mind had regained its composure for the most part. He felt the familiar black sheets under his body, drenched with sweat. He had been changed out Remus’ green t-shirt and, well, he wasn’t wearing anything. Janus sat up slowly and leaned against the headboard, trying to remember everything that had happened. Fuck, he hoped the cop was ok. He doubted it though, the masters were cruel. Janus pulled his knees to his chest and cried but held a hand over his mouth when he heard mumbled voices outside his door.   
________________________________

“What happened to the officer, Janus?” Dr. Picani prodded after an extended period of silence from the man. Janus rubbed his leg harder and started crying, shaking his head. “It’s alright, take as long as you need,” He held the snake tightly to his chest as his sobbing increased in volume. He wanted to tell him, but he felt like he had divulged too much information already. Still, the doctor’s silence pulled the truth out between his hiccupped cries. 

“They…They made me…made me kill him.”  
________________________________

His two masters had been dressed up in their own versions of plague doctor costumes, ready for a scene. They had also made their slave wear a long black dress with a blank white mask before forcing him in front of the camera. The officer was tied up similar to how Janus had been the first night he was brought there, his hands bound above him with his body dangling from the hook. His body was bruised and cut, his right eye swollen shut with his split. Still, he had a light burning in his eyes. 

“Don’t make him do this you, sick fucks!” He screamed out to them and was rewarded with a solid hit in the kidney with his baton. He hunched over as much as he could and dry heaved, spit dribbling down his chin. Still, he continued speaking, however, strained it was. “Janus, that’s your name, right, the boy who went missing?” 

“Don’t talk to him!” Remus hit him again on the opposite side, and Janus flinched, even though he wasn’t the one in danger. 

“I’m friends with Logan-“Remus hit him again and again and again, over different parts of his body in a fury while Janus cried behind his mask. His entire body trembling.

“Master, please stop, I’m sorry, please,” He fell to his knees, lowering his head in submission, “Please stop hurting him,” Janus knew it was pointless, but still, he had to try. It seemed to calm Remus down though, at least he stopped beating the poor cop. 

“Sorry?” Roman laughed behind the camera where he normally resided. Remus stepped towards Janus and knelt before him, gently placing a hand under his chin. 

“You’re the reason he’s here. Apologize to him,” Remus went from gentle to rough in an instant, dragging Janus up by the arm. He pulled him in front of the officer, and Janus glanced up at the beaten man.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“This isn’t…your fault, don’t…don't listen to them,” He wheezed, glaring at his masters. How he managed to stay strong in this situation baffled Janus, but he didn’t have long to ponder that thought as Remus handed him a knife. The cop’s eyes darkened; it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out where his mind went. Janus couldn’t take his masters on, not in his weakened state, even with a knife and especially not when both of them possessed a gun. 

“Prove your loyalty to us and fix the problem you made,” Remus spoke clearly, standing back, but Janus shook his head. His entire body shaking harder than before. He almost collapsed to his knees again. “No? Well, then we don’t need a disloyal slave,” He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Janus' head, still a few feet away, but remained within the camera’s range.

“Do it…we both don’t…need to die here tonight,” He struggled to speak, and Janus looked up at him through his mask.

“I understand, master,” Janus held the knife firmly in his hand and moved behind the man, pressing the knife against his neck. 

“Right across the neck, little slave,” Roman cooed from his couch, and Janus couldn’t bear to look at either of them as they removed his last bit of humanity. He closed his eyes tightly and in a hesitant motion, slit the officer’s throat.   
________________________________

“I can still hear the sounds he made,” Janus dropped the snake plushie and covered his ears, tears clinging to his eyes. “I can’t do this; I can’t do this.”

“You can do this, Janus, it was a life or death situation- “

“That I caused because I disobeyed them! I got an innocent man killed- “

“No, you saw a chance for freedom, and you took it,” The doctor remained calm, slowly picking the snake plush up from the floor. “But the simple fact that you feel this way, that you aren’t worried about yourself…” The doctor trailed off, writing something down in his notebook. “The police already cleared the charges of accessories to murder, due to your mental health, but I believe you want, so desperately to expose them regardless of the court's decree on your involvement. You don’t have to tell me, or Virgil or anyone in particular, but I’m certain you would feel immensely better if you gave their names or anything you have on them to someone, anyone,” Would that help? But he would be betraying them. Betraying the men who broke him. He couldn’t do this.

After the appointment, Dr. Picani asked to speak to Virgil for a moment and brought him back to his office, leaving Janus in the waiting room with his thoughts. He said too much, he knew said too much, even if everything he told him was already on one of the tapes the FBI surely had. He rocked back and forth, rubbing his leg and hiding in Virgil’s hoodie. The sound of the man choking on his blood ringing in his ears.

Janus stayed like that until Virgil returned, he didn’t know how long that had been. They didn’t speak on the ride home, his brother lost in thought while Janus was lost to the past. He had to make the voices stop, he made to make everything calm down. His body burned and he nearly jumped out of the car before it came to a stop. He barely heard Virgil call out to him before he locked himself in the bathroom, pulling his brother’s hoodie off and dropping it to the floor.

Make them stop. Have to make them stop. It’s too much. Make them stop. The words repeated themselves over and over in his head with flashes of dead bodies. Those he buried, those he killed, those on the masters’ personal tapes. Janus fell to his knees and hunched over the toilet, throwing up the waffles from earlier. Their cries and pleas as Roman raped them and Remus tortured them, drowned out his heaving. 

“I didn’t want to help them,” Janus cried and stood, reaching absentmindedly for his razor; the one sharp object his brother actually allowed him to have. He didn't want to help his masters with the killings and the torture, but he had been ordered to. He needed to be a good slave. “I didn’t want them to die,” With the need to shut those images down, he sliced his wrist with the razor. Once, twice, until the shallow cuts of three littered his arm. They weren’t as deep as the ones on his thighs, but they hurt way worse. Barely any blood prickled from the cuts, but the initial wounds weren’t his sole source of pain. 

He rummaged through the cabinet and pulled out the first aid kit, ripping open an alcohol wipe. Without any moment of hesitation, he wiped the wounds down; the equivalent of rubbing salt on a wound. Soon, the pleasurable pain was all Janus could think about, his body shaking, but at a weird sense of peace.


	9. Present - Virgil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning - Rape is mentioned, at this point, it's a blanket warning apparently. 
> 
> Virgil watches a tape to try and understand his brother's pain. Meanwhile, his brother loses his shit, but that's for the next chapter. Also, the next chapter should probably have some fluff. Hopefully, but we'll see if my creativity allows that.
> 
> This is a lot shorter of a chapter, closer to the first one, but it's still over 1,500 words. I woke up feeling like shit with the worst headache ever so I might take a day break from writing tomorrow. Depends on if I feel better or not.

“I’m certain you know at least one of the killers, Virgil. I mean, I was unsure before, but after my session with Janus, I know,” The doctor paced back and forth in his office, leaving Virgil dumbfounded in the middle. What the hell did they talk about to get him to suspect any of his friends? It made no sense; the police had already investigated everyone who could have possibly been involved. Hell, even Logan who had a solid alibi the night of Janus’ disappearance. 

“What are you…The police already interviewed everyone I know, Dr. Picani.” Virgil said, shoving his hands in his pockets, but Picani ignored him in favor of a rant. 

“They can’t identify the men in the videos because they wore costumes, but only one is ever really in front of the camera, the other sometimes says a word or two, but that’s it. And most are down in a presumed basement anyway, but my point, my point, yes, you know all that. Janus was allowed in their rooms! The FBI are still going through the videos, but I’m certain there’s at least one that takes place in one of their rooms and if they’re someone you know, then you can identify them through that. Perhaps.” He continued pacing, fidgeting with his hand, and adjusting his glasses. Now, that was insane, even if he could, he doubted these murderers would have been that sloppy enough to have let anyone recognize it if they planned on sharing these tapes.

“Doctor, that’s a bit farfetched, and I’m not going to watch my brother be tortured-” Virgil attempted to interject, but Dr. Picani cut him off with a dismissive wave of his hand. It was starting to get on his nerves how the man insisted on ignoring him. 

“Janus isn’t going to tell anyone, not anytime soon at least. I tried to encourage him, but he’s terrified, Virgil.” He stopped and walked towards him, holding his arms out as he spoke. “And I don’t mean scared, I mean so absolutely frightened that the only way he can ease the anxiety is to pretend that they love him! And he isn’t going to let that coping mechanism go until they’re either arrested or he kills himself.” He grabbed a fist full of Virgil’s shirt, his eyes filled with a flurry of emotions. “Virgil, this is serious!” He pushed the disheveled doctor away, letting him stumble back into his desk.

“You think I don’t know that! You think I’m not scared I’m going to lose him again when he locks himself in the bathroom or whenever I go check on him in the morning,” He clenched his fists and kept his gaze down. He couldn’t bear looking at the doctor, not now. Not when he felt his heart breaking in two.

“I’m saying this because I know that, Virgil. I’m not saying watch the entire tape or even watch more than a second of it. Just look at the room, you have a friend in the police force who can help right?”

“Yeah…fine, but only because I want to help him…and because I need to understand what they did to him.” Someone has to understand, even if Janus felt comfortable with talking to Dr. Picani, that meant nothing if no one else could help him. Either that or Virgil’s curiosity was getting the better of him.

“Feel free to call me afterward, you have my number.”

Now, here he was, standing outside Logan’s apartment the next night, unable to knock. He had asked if they could watch it together, after a long conversation about even obtaining a tape in the first place. Logan assured he would be able to get a copy of something particularly tame but insisted Virgil not watch it alone regardless. For a number of reasons, one being, that Logan couldn’t share the tapes with anyone as they were still considered evidence, but he could show Virgil because he potentially had information. It went over his head a little, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. 

After Janus’ appointment with Dr. Picani, he had isolated himself even more than before. Not speaking unless spoken to, only leaving his room for food if someone specifically said he could come out and locking himself in the bathroom for extended periods of time. Patton had expressed his concern about his brother, but Virgil didn’t know what to do. Janus wouldn’t talk to him or Patton. All he could do was watch this tape, understand something that happened and hopefully be able to figure out who one of the killers are. 

So, he knocked and waited. There was a bit of a shuffle behind the door before Logan opened it. He was dressed in a polo shirt and black dress pants, polar opposite to Virgil’s hoodie and sweatpants. 

“Hey, Logan,” Virgil muttered, pulling the hood of his jacket down as Logan stepped to the side and let him inside. The place was immaculate, nothing out of place, and not a single piece of trash in sight. “Let’s just get this over with, ok?”

“Virgil, you don’t have-”

“I do, for a lot of reasons. I have to know something, so I can help him,” Virgil cut him off, he had already gone through this in his head before coming over. “Let’s just make this quick, ok?” Logan made a look he couldn’t quite discern. It reminded him that even if this had been 7 years ago, Janus was still someone he cared for deeply. Whether he showed it or not, watching this couldn’t have been any easier on him. He shut the door and walked over to his TV, putting the DVD copy of the tape in the player. 

“I won’t start it until you sit down.” Virgil nodded and sat on the edge of Logan’s couch. The screen didn’t show anything yet, instead, it was a dark blue with a few titles, all dates. Logan took a deep breath and sat on the other side of the couch, selecting the top date. The screen flickered for a moment before the scene appeared. 

“Alright, we should be filming now,” A familiar voice came from the TV before the video feed filled the screen. Janus’ arms were bound to a headboard, spread apart but his legs were left free. From what Virgil could tell, he had a blindfold on and was most definitely naked. This was something tame? What the fuck was on the other tapes? “You were bad before.” 

“I’m sorry, master, please…please forgive me,” Virgil didn’t miss the tremble in his brother’s voice as the man’s hand trailed up his body. “I tried to be quiet, I promise, I wouldn’t disobey you on purpose, master.” At this point, Virgil could see Janus’ shaking as he held a hand over his throat. 

“You will speak when spoken to, slave.”

“Please, tell me he doesn’t…” He trailed off as the mysterious man shifted on the bed, moving to the other side of Janus, his face coming into view. He wore a black masquerade mask. Logan glanced at Virgil who clenched his fists, whereas Logan remained calm. With exception to the slight furrowing of his brow. Virgil could never read him; Janus was able to though. God, he was going to rape Janus. No, not going to, he did. He raped his brother, and this was the damning footage, but who was he? Come on, pay attention. 

Virgil examined the room they were in, ignoring Janus’ quiet pleas on the screen which were met with the man’s praises as he forced his legs apart. Sick fuck. Virgil examined the walls, taking notice of a Nightmare Before Christmas poster, the same one Roman had. Now that he thought about, it the man had a similar build to Roman as well and the same voice. It couldn’t be.

“Roman,” Logan paused the video, releasing tension Virgil hadn’t noticed before. “It has to be Roman.” Who else could it be? Even with the mask, it was unmistakable. He had the same furniture as Roman, he had the same posters. Posters he gifted him!

“I thought so too, but I couldn’t be certain,” Logan adjusted his glasses and turned to Virgil who was fuming. 

“So that’s why he kept his room locked whenever I was over, I thought it was strange, but…God, I’ve been over to his home! He had Janus the whole time!” He had sat on his couch and watched Disney movies with him, laughed with him and cried with him. The bastard helped him recover after his brother’s disappearance. A disappearance he caused!

“I had suspected him when Janus had first gone missing, I explained to the police he had an obsession with you and that it was a valuable lead. They did in fact look into Roman but found video footage of him working at the time of the abduction and murder. There was no fathomable way he had a single thing to do with it, but that was long before these tapes. Now, we know he had an accomplice and I’m fairly certain that accomplice is Remus. But why he took Janus instead of you,” Logan paused to allow Virgil to catch up with his thought process, but he was already long gone. Hung up on his first statement. 

Roman had wanted him? Him? But he was with Patton. Fuck! He was the reason Janus was taken! The reason he went through all of that! Tears burned at the corner of his eyes, but he stilled when Logan put an arm around him. Oh god, he must have been just as upset, that was his boyfriend. The boyfriend he could have saved, who he almost saved, but was blown off because he called out the wrong brother. 

“Logan, we…we gotta tell somebody, or confront them-”

“I think presenting this information to the proper authorities is the proper course of action, but I also would appreciate it if you would allow me to stay at your home. At least until these perpetrators are arrested.” 

“Of course,” He figured Logan only wanted to keep them safe. If he lost Janus again, well, Janus wasn’t his anymore, but it would still be horrible. “I’m sure you know though-”

“Yes, you explained it before, he’s not my partner anymore and I do not intend on treating him as if he is.” Virgil highly doubted that, what with how the last time he was over the two ended up cuddling a little. Although, Janus had actually initiated that, surprisingly. “Do you mind if I bring Apophis as well, I don’t want to leave him alone and animals are known to aid in reducing anxiety.” 

“You know what, sure. Janus hasn’t seen his old friend in almost a decade.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any plot holes or missing points, do let me know. My professor pointed out I tend to omit stuff sometimes and I have a hard time seeing if something doesn't make sense because I'm the one writing it.


	10. Present - Thomas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FBI Agent Thomas Sanders struggles to find a break in the case until Virgil shows up with a name.
> 
> Thanks for waiting for this chapter! I felt awful yesterday, but I'm much better today. Glad though, cause it gave me a chance to outline a little for future chapters. This story still has a long way to go, don't worry.
> 
> Remember how I said in the last chapter this one should have fluff and angst? Well, yeah, that chapter idea got switched with this one and it should be next instead. It made more sense in that order. Cause the "fluff" chapter happens after they tell the police everything.

Nothing, the unsubs left him nothing. No DNA, not a semen sample on the bodies, no bite marks. All that he had were these graphic tapes of their exploits, which weren’t of great quality to begin with-Thomas was certain that was intentional though-and heavily mutilated and bleached bodies that could only be ID through dental records. Well, there was one lead, Janus, but the man had been severely traumatized. He wished it was different, but this wasn’t the first time he dealt with a victim who refused to talk, it was pretty par for the course in this line of work. 

Thomas rewound a copy of the tape on his laptop, this particular scene might have been a breakthrough. It was one of the unsubs raping an unconscious Janus. A necrophiliac, most likely, but there had been no evidence of the unsubs returning to any of the corpses. This meant that he was denying himself something, or his partner was preventing him from visiting the dumpsites as a forensic countermeasure. Tricky, but without Janus, he doubted the submissive unsub could continue to subdue that desire even if the dominant one fought him on it. That would cause a rift between them.

Thomas read over the profile he had made, they were dealing with two males, white, approximately 25-30 years of age, who were either close friends or family. The necrophiliac most likely works in a morgue. While the other works a menial or basic job he feels unappreciated in or lacks power in.

“Joan, can you pull up a list of male morgue workers, please,” Thomas called to his analyst, his back towards him, still facing the screen. 

“Fine, but please shut that off, I don’t know how you stomach it,” Joan said, typing away on their computer. 10 years with the bureau would desensitize anyone, but that didn’t mean Thomas couldn’t feel pity for Janus. The man had gone through hell, but he couldn’t ponder that in any way not relating to the case and he couldn’t allow his emotions to prevent him from examining the tapes. There were still over 30 victims who were lacking their proper justice, after all.

“Cross-reference it with our lists of suspects and people who knew Janus or his brother,” He paused the video. They kept him for a reason, but why? Thomas suspected that was their ticket. 

“No matches.” Damn, there are two unsubs though, the necrophiliac would keep to himself and have a difficult time interacting with people he found attractive. Janus might not have even known him before he was taken, but he would have had interactions with him. Whether he actually saw him or not.

“Does anyone on the list of people who knew Janus or Virgil have a brother?” Thomas crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, blowing a stray hair out of his face. Joan typed away and, in a moment, they had an answer.

“Yeah, actually, a friend of Virgil’s, Roman Adimos,” They said, and Thomas rolled his chair over to them. “He has an older brother-Remus-who’s a pathologist at the County Medical Examiner’s Office.” Of course, that’s where he got his rocks off. He worked with dead bodies daily, but he also had a medical degree which explained how he was able to pull off drugging Janus. He couldn’t get ahead of himself though, Thomas wouldn’t allow himself to get tunnel vision on this case, but this was a solid lead to follow.

“That would explain his familiarity with health care as well,” He stood from his chair and fixed his tie. “Is he working today?”

“Yes, he took a few days off, but he should be back today.” 

“Alright, call if anything comes up.” With that, Thomas left for his place of work. He would need to confront him carefully since there was no reason the man would want to speak with him. He’d exchange a few words and see if this lead has any merit. If it did, he would bring Remus in for questioning, but as it stood, a mere thread connected him to the case. 

Thomas walked into the office and towards the morgue in the back after flashing his badge to the lady in the front and asking where Remus was. He shuddered at the sudden change in temperature despite how many times he had gone in morgues before. Remus had a body out, but it was covered with a sheet and he was apparently charting something before he looked up.

“Excuse me, you’re not supposed to be back here,” He muttered with the least amount of confidence. Thomas walked over and flashed his badge.

“Forgive my intrusion, my name is Agent Sanders, I’m with the FBI,” He put his badge away and attempted to make eye contact with Remus who kept his gaze anywhere but on him. “I believe you assisted in identifying the cause of death for a few of the victims of a case I’m working on, so I had a few questions for you.” Remus squirmed a little under the agent’s intense stare, so Thomas let up a little.

“Sure, sure,” He kept his voice quiet, a stark contrast to the domineering tone in the videos. It wasn’t uncommon for people to change, but for it to be this drastic. The costumes could give him a sense of confidence or simply the act of torturing gave him a false sense of superiority that he desperately needed in his day to day life. Or, he had a weak constitution and couldn’t keep up a lie in the face of authority. Only if he was actually one of the men in the tapes, that is. 

“Did you notice anything out of the ordinary with the newest victim?” Remus straightened his posture and spoke louder and clearer this time at the mention of the latest John Doe. 

“No, they dismembered him like the rest, and the cause of death is still the same. Multiple stab wounds with a final cut against the throat.” He shifted on his feet, sliding the body he had been charting back into place. It could have easily been mistaken for discomfort over the topic, but Thomas couldn’t quite tell if it was that or his already established uneasiness around the agent. 

“Did you find any semen on him?” Thomas asked, watching to see any subtle change in demeanor. The way his shoulders stiffened, and his brows furrowed was anything but subtle, though. 

“Agent, no, if I did then you would have had the information already.” Remus snapped back, still avoiding eye contact. 

“You know, it’s not uncommon for an unsub to insert himself into an investigation,” Thomas stood between him and the exit, attempting to further set him off.

“Your point?” He crossed his arms.

“You insisted on handling any future bodies, why is that?” The complete shift in attitude almost gave Thomas whiplash as Remus went from unsure to furious and confident. 

“Agent, I have work to do, I don’t have time for this,” He shot back all too quickly, red tinting his cheeks. He laughed dryly and turned away from him, apparently trying to regain composure. He walked over to his desk, his voice an even tone. “Unless you have any real questions, please leave,” He set his clipboard down, but before Thomas could continue speaking with him his phone started to ring. 

“Thank you for your time,” Thomas sighed and left before glancing down at the caller ID and answering. “What happened, Joan?” 

“Um, remember that cop you shared some of the footage with?” They asked he could hear the uncertainty in their voice.

“Yes?” He had allowed Logan to view a small portion under the assumption he would show a bit of it to Virgil in hope that he would be able to identify an unsub or provide some insight. Anything was welcomed at this point; these unsubs were still killing, and they wouldn’t stop until he caught them.

“He came in with Virgil who claims to know who one of the unsubs are, do you want to talk to him?” They said.

“Of course, I’ll be back soon, don’t let them go anywhere.”

When Thomas returned to the station, he walked into a back room where Joan was sitting with Logan and Virgil at a table.

“Agent Sanders,” Logan went to stand, but Thomas made a motion for him to remain sitting, which he did. He sat across from the two and next to Joan, giving them a once over. Logan appeared calm and his clothes were pristine, but Thomas could see the worry etched into his face along with well-hidden anger behind his proper posture. His friend had his head down, shoulders hunched forward with his bangs covering his eyes.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t have met under better circumstances, Virgil,” Thomas stated, “I’m Agent Sanders with the FBI, and I’m sure you’re already aquatinted with my analyst,” He rested his arms on the table, waiting for Virgil to speak. The man raised his head and sighed, wrapping his arms around himself, but Thomas was almost caught off guard by how similar they looked. Virgil had a good foot on Janus, and Janus had hemi chromatic eyes, but despite those few differences, he could see the two were undoubtedly twins. And if someone didn’t know better, they would confuse the two. He filed that bit of information away, for now. 

“I’m sorry as well,” Virgil sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t have time to revel in my pity though,” A darkness remained behind his eyes that Thomas could relate to. He had spent many a night wondering what-ifs and whys and it seemed Virgil was battling that same demon. “Roman Adimos…That’s the man in the tape I watched,” His voice cracked on the last word and his face contorted to pain, but no tears came. Logan placed a hand on his shoulder, with a similar expression but more subdued. 

“Roman? He’s a close friend of yours,” That explained the pain. “Are you certain-” 

“Yes, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” His eyes started to water as his shoulders shook. “I still can’t believe all this time…” Virgil buried his face in his hands.

“I’ll bring him in for questioning then,” Now this was a solid lead, at least it would allow him a reason to actually detain him for a reasonable amount of time. Thomas doubted that Virgil’s accusation alone would render a guilty verdict, but this got his foot in the door. “Which man was it again, so I can be certain who I’m dealing with.”

“The man who raped Janus,” Virgil said softly, removing his hands from his face.

“Awake or unconscious?” The blunt question appeared to throw both of them for a loop, but Virgil was more expressive. His jaw dropped and he covered his mouth with his hand, tears falling freely from his eyes as it took him a moment to form a response. 

“Wha…Oh god, awake.” So, the narcissist then, perfect. He would be too egotistical to call a lawyer and if Thomas played his cards right during the interrogation, then he could get something substantial. Maybe enough to fully connect him to the tapes. All he needed now was a reason to bring Remus in, there was no doubt in his mind he had something to do with this. It wasn’t a coincidence he acted the way he did before. An innocent person asks questions and demands to know why they’re being accused or if they even are in the first place. Remus simply shut the conversation down. Couple that with Virgil’s testimony and Thomas knew the Adimos brothers were hiding something. 

And he had every intention of finding out what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you guys be interested in a story where all the sides work with the FBI and they solve cases each chapter? It would have a slow update schedule, but only because the chapters would be pretty long. 
> 
> It would be like Criminal Minds, I'm spitballing a title, but maybe Criminal Sides? Idk it's my favorite show right now.


	11. Present - Virgil/Janus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil represses his feelings. Meanwhile, Janus is sick and has no idea where he is or if this is all a dream.
> 
> Warning: Referenced self-harm and past abuse.
> 
> I like how this is my definition of fluff, for I cannot fight the angst. Also, yes there will be loceit, fight me it's one of my favorite ships and the angst will be so sweet.

Virgil sat in the passenger seat of Logan’s car, allowing his friend to drive after the interaction with that FBI agent. He didn’t have any objections when he offered, but his head wasn’t quite there anyway. Thoughts of every interaction with Roman flashed in his mind. Each time he went over to his home, or when Roman comforted him, and when he…let him stay over.

The color dropped from Virgil’s face as his heart sank to his stomach.

“I let him in my home, I let him in my home! With Janus!” He started pulling his hair, tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. “That’s why he freaked out the next morning, he raped him in my home! Oh god!” The window rolled down, but Virgil didn’t remember pressing the button to do so.

“Breathe,” Logan’s calming voice brushed over him while the wind from the open window tousled his hair around violently. Still, the cool air helped ease the burning that settled over his body. Breathe, in for 4, hold for 7 and out for 8. He continued like that for some time, focusing on his breathing and the loud roar of the wind, to ignore his racing thoughts.

“How could I not have noticed?” Virgil struggled out as his throat tightened, but his tears refused to fall. Logan rolled the window up and hummed softly. “You knew, you told them, and they ignored him.”

“They didn’t ignore Roman,” Logan tightened his grip on the steering wheel, “there was no evidence at the time they were dealing with a duo, so they dismissed the lead. When the tapes were discovered they included Roman once more in the suspect pool, but there was no evidence linking him again. He is a crafty man,” Logan said, a rare spark of anger hidden behind his normally apathetic eyes. Virgil had almost forgotten, Roman comforted him too. The man who had repeatedly raped and tortured his boyfriend. The man he suspected from the beginning. Even if it had been 7 years. “There is no point in pondering the what-ifs, Virgil, only the next course of action,” He cut Virgil from his thoughts, but the fire remained in his eyes, almost contradicting his statement.

“I know, I know…” Silence fell over them once more, but he couldn’t allow himself to fall back into his obsessive thoughts on the past. “You still love him, don’t you?”

“I…Janus?” Logan sighed, visibly tensing.

“Yes, Janus. Don’t try to deny it, you should know he’s not the same-”

“Stop saying that! Can’t you see that’s the problem?!” The sudden snap and volume of his voice threw Virgil off. This was a stark contrast to typically calm and collected Logan he grew up with. “You-you treat him as if he’s fragile, as if he’s broken,” Red tinted his cheeks, his face scrunching up and his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. Whether he was angry with Virgil or the fuckers who actually hurt Janus, he couldn’t tell.

“We’re only being patient with him,” Virgil said, attempting to prevent the conversation from escalating.

“Falsehood, you pity him, that’s why he refuses to tell you anything.” Ok, ouch.

“Alright now-” He didn’t take that to heart, after all, he knew Logan said rude things whenever he became defensive.

“You forget, I handle missing persons,” He kept one hand on the steering wheel, resting his other on the center console as he let his shoulders relax. Virgil presumed Logan caught himself, remembering that his friend wasn’t trained in dealing with these situations like he was. “Please, forgive my outburst…I know it can be quite difficult to treat them as if nothing has happened, that they’re not victims. Even I struggle with that from time to time, but if you refuse to,” Logan spared a glance at Virgil, who was currently staring straight ahead, lips pressed in a thin line. “then he will never recover. And to answer your question, yes, I do still love him. I never stopped,” His voice cracked at the end.

_____________

What day was it? Where was he again? With his masters, right?

He was hungry, were the masters going to feed him today?

Janus sat curled up in the corner of his room a fevered sweat racking his body, drenching the sheets from the bed that had been wrapped tightly around him. He rocked back and forth slowly with his eyes unable to focus on anything in front of him. However, he could recognize that someone had moved to sit in front of him.

Someone, someone, who was it? Glasses, he could see his black glasses. The masters didn’t wear glasses. Janus scoured his brain for anyone who could look anywhere similar. 

“Lo…Logan?” He came to save him. Logan came to save him! Janus flung himself into his arms, relaxing as the man wrapped his arms around him snuggly. “You…came…they said you forgot about me too.”

“Oh, Jan,” Wait, that wasn’t Logan's voice, was it? What did his boyfriend sound like again? A small hand brushed some of his matted hair out of his eyes, and at that moment Janus didn’t care if this was Logan or not. The only thing that mattered was that it wasn’t one of his masters, that much he knew for certain; after all, they never smelled like cookies.

The blanket was pulled from around him and he whimpered, which usually meant it was time for something. He didn’t want to know what that something was, but fighting was futile lest he wanted whatever this man had planned to be prolonged.

“Gosh, you’re covered in sweat, are you running a fever?” The back of a cold hand pressed against his forehead and Janus melted into the touch, his eyes fluttering closed. “You’re burning up,” The man moved his arm back, taking his only relief away.

“Nuuu,” Janus whined and reached out to chase the soothing coolness, not bothering to worry about covering his wrists. 

“Janus, what, oh my gosh, what did you...?” The question died on his lips as he gripped Janus’s arm gently. “I-I’m gonna have to change your clothes, Jan. I promise I’m not going to hurt you or touch you inappropriately, ok?” He seemed to wait for the out of it man to respond, but he couldn’t form a verbal reply. Hell, he couldn’t even nod, only flop his head against his chest.

Everything was too hot, even when his shirt was pulled over his head and the same hand traced the scars lining his chest.

“Stay…Stay right here, I’ll get you a clean shirt and pants,” He left his side and returned momentarily, but when he did Janus had cowered in the corner again. No, he didn’t want to be sedated right now, not when his entire body felt on fire yet chilled to the core.

“I don’t wanna go out again, please, master, it’s too much,” He cried softly and shielded his arms, tucking them close to his chest.

“It’s me, Patton, remember?”

“Patton?” Janus looked up, squinting his eyes to focus on him.

“Yeah, it’s ok, buddy,” His sat in front of him, careful not to move too suddenly.

“Patton, Patton,” He muttered the name before he recalled. “Oh,” He chuckled weakly, but it held a hint of melancholy behind it. “Hope you slept with Virgil already cause Roman doesn’t care if you’re a virgin or not,” Janus leaned against the wall, closing his eyes again. Relaxing now that he was certain, Remus wasn’t going to drug him, but he felt horrible for Patton. Still, at least he wasn’t alone anymore.

“Roman?”

“Mhm, maybe he’ll keep you around if you’re good,” He didn’t want to scare Patton, but they rarely kept anyone longer than a month, other than him that is.

“Roman did this to you?” Patton moved closer, and Janus felt a hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t feel like talking anymore. All he wanted was to sleep and maybe eat something. “Janus?” He could hear the panic in his voice before he completely clocked out.

When Janus came to again, he was laying on a couch with a blanket loosely draped over him and a pretty fluffy pillow under his head. Oh, this was heaven, he didn’t care where he was at this point. He pulled the blanket farther up his chest and snuggled comfortably underneath it for warmth.

“You’re awake,” A rich deep voice he barely recognized spoke, and it rang his head, reminding him of his migraine. Janus hissed and hid under the blanket.

“Where am I?” He forced himself to ask, despite his throat’s protests.

“You’re currently in Virgil’s living room,” Janus grunted in response, his voice wasn’t so graining on his ears actually, but quiet was still preferable. “Are you willing to take some ibuprofen? It will reduce your fever and ease your headache.”

“Ah, please, and some water?”

“Of course.” He still didn’t know who was speaking to him, but he felt oddly familiar. Perhaps when the fever died down, he could think straight and actually look at him. He only hoped it wasn’t Roman or Remus, but he did say Virgil’s living room and Remus sounded like he smoked 10 packs a day.

Janus sat himself up but kept his eyes closed when the man returned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He handed him a glass of water and three small pills which he quickly downed.

“Would you like to watch The Office?”

“Oh, that’d be great, just keep the volume down, Lo.” Logan, Yeah, that’s who it was. Time still felt out of place and he couldn’t quite put all the pieces together, mostly because his brain was scrambled. He did know though that he wanted his boyfriend closer. Was he his boyfriend still? Fuck, his head throbbed, and he couldn’t be bothered to figure anything out with the haze sticking to him. “Cuddles?” That was all he wanted right now, whether this was reality or not.

“What?” Logan seemed taken aback, jaw slightly dropped. Janus huffed, and poked his arms out from under the blanket, making grabby hands at him.

“You, cuddles, please? Don’t make me beg, Lo,” And he didn’t have to since Logan moved over to the couch. He sat stiffly and held his arm up, allowing Janus to nuzzle himself up to him while wrapped up in his blanket burrito.

“This is either a great dream, or I’m dead,” He muttered and closed his eyes once more as Logan turned on The Office. “I’m not sure which I’d prefer, honestly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a lot shorter than I wanted it to be, I originally wanted it to be a Logan centered chapter, but like no? It didn't work out. This is sort of like a filler chapter for the next one. These were each too short for their own, so I combined them together. For that reason, it was really hard to start this one. Totally *didn't* stare at my computer screen for three hours trying to come up with something. 
> 
> You also get a little taste of Virgil's freak out about him letting Roman in his home, but just wait until he's alone with Patton. 
> 
> Oh, the things I have planned. 
> 
> Also! I'm outlining Criminal Sides! I don't know when a chapter will be ready though.


	12. Present/Past - Virgil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil and Patton deal with the fallout of the last two chapters and decide to have a little repression session from their troubles.
> 
> Warning: Description of a corpse and crime scene, self-harm mentioned briefly.

“It was Roman!” Before Virgil could step more than a foot into their home, Patton flung himself onto his husband with red puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. “It was…Roman,” He cried into his shoulder and allowed Virgil to guide him back to the living room, Logan following close behind with a worried expression. How the hell did he know it was Roman, did he watch a tape, or did Janus tell him? Speaking of his brother, he was laying on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, clocked the fuck out with a painfully contorted expression. 

“Damn it, what the hell happened?” He ignored Patton’s words from earlier in favor of walking towards his brother, but Patton stood between, placing a hand on his chest. 

“He’s sick with a fever, but otherwise fine,” Patton glanced back at Logan, his eyes wide while he fidgeted with his hands. “Stay with him, please?” Without waiting for a response, he gripped Virgil’s wrist and dragged him to their room, slamming the door shut behind them. “Why aren’t you shocked! I said it was Roman!” If he had been upset before, now he was freaking out. Patton’s entire body shook as he fought back tears and wrapped his arms around himself. “Roman took him…”

“How did you find out?”

“How long did you know?” Patton snapped through clenched teeth and with such venom it took Virgil a moment to formulate a response.

“A few hours, maybe?” He hadn’t told him that he went to watch the tapes with Logan, only that he was staying with him for a while to get Apophis. Yeah, not his best idea, but how was he supposed to know Janus suddenly spill everything to him? “Wait-wait, you didn’t answer my question-” 

“You let him in our home!” He pointed accusingly at Virgil, shoving his finger in his face with a wild look in his eyes. A mix of fear, anger, betrayal, and abstract horror.

“Patton, you need to breathe, ok? Remember what you always tell me,” Virgil gently held his hand, trying to remain calm. The two needed to have this conversation, but they couldn’t talk in this state. Patton snatched his arm back and cried loudly, starting to pull his hair. “Patton! Breathe!” He grabbed him by the shoulders, but Patton shoved him away. Consequently, Virgil lost his footing and fell onto his back with a loud thud which appeared to not faze his partner in the slightest.

“Breathe?! Breathe?! We were over at his house while he…That’s what those noises were!” Patton screamed and stumbled back into the wall; his eyes screwed shut. Damn it, this wasn’t helping. Patton was usually the one to calm him down when he was having a panic attack, not the other way around. 

“Yes, we were, love,” Virgil sat up, rubbing the back of his head that hit the floor. “You have every right to be upset with me, I hid what I was doing from you. I-I watched a tape to figure out who one of them was, but I had every intention to tell you, I promise,” He shifted to stand, grunting at the pain that rang through him. “If I knew who…what he was sooner, I would have never let him in our home, Pat.” Hesitantly, Virgil walked closer to him. “Breathe, please, then we can sit and talk about this.” Patton shook his head and clung back onto his husband, continuing to sob loudly. 

The two, at some point, moved over to lay on the bed. Virgil ran his fingers through Patton’s fluffy hair, placed soft kisses on his head, and rubbing circles on his back to help calm him down. It was cathartic, Virgil should have been the one upset. He should have been the one screaming and crying. It was his family, but for some reason, he couldn’t. After the initial car ride with Logan, he shut down completely exactly like he did when he found his mother dead.

__________

Patton had dropped Virgil off at his home but decided on coming inside with him last minute to say hi to Janus. They had been friends, not insanely close, but still friends. Virgil had called out he was home but stopped dead in his tracks. 

In the entryway there was a puddle of dried blood staining the wooden floor. 

“Virgil?” Patton stopped beside him and gasped. He had been the one crying out for Janus and his mother, not Virgil. He simply wandered into the kitchen and found a small tape on the counter. The world felt distant and unattached as if he was watching a movie play out in front of him when he walked through his home. 

His mother lay on the tiled floor, facing up, naked with her stomach sliced open from her pelvis to her mouth.

“Mo…Mom?” Virgil fell to his knees with a sickening crack, but he ignored the pain that flared up. A scream came from behind him.

They had called the cops, of course, and Virgil ended up being the one to comfort Patton when they were taken to the station. Or well, they both held onto each other, his boyfriend crying while Virgil closed down. Though he vaguely remembered someone asking him questions.

“Did Janus have any enemies?”

“No.”

“Any past or current lovers?”

“Just his boyfriend, Logan, he’s training to be a cop…”

“Alright, did he deal with drugs?”

“No, no.” They continued that line of questioning for some time, but it went nowhere. It appeared as though Janus had no reason to disappear. If it wasn’t for the tape left, they would have assumed Janus was the one who killed their mother. They even suspected Virgil at one point too, but it went nowhere considering his solid alibi. Speaking of the tape, they made him watch it to see if he could recognize the man, but since he wore a mask he couldn’t.

The absolute terror in Janus’ face stuck with Virgil for those 7 years. Watching him turn to run, but lose his footing on the tile, scrambling to stand up and flee towards the door. Janus almost made it to the door too, but he caught up with him. He had hit him on the back of the head and started bashing his skull in. Although, Virgil could only see shadows as the mystery man dropped the camera when his brother started fighting back. 

When Janus had gone silent except for faint wheezing, he had been dragged off camera.   
__________

“I’m sorry I pushed you…” Patton mumbled into his husband’s jacket and sniffled. “And for getting snot on you,” Virgil chuckled and kissed his head.

“I forgive you, this whole thing has been insane,” It wasn’t ok that Patton had essentially shoved him to the floor, but he could look past it since he had never done anything like that before. “I get it,” Though, he wouldn’t quite let him off the hook. “but you’ll have to make it up to me later, my neck is killing me.”

“Of course!” Patton pulled back and wiped his eyes, seeming calm now. “So, um…to answer your question from before,” He started playing with the strings on his jacket, avoiding eye contact. “I went to go check on Janus since he hadn’t come out all day and I found him in the corner. He was shaking and covered in sweat, so I went to go help him change. He freaked out before he recognized me and said Roman didn’t care if I was a virgin or not. He raped him, I mean, I figured they hurt him, but that? How could Roman do that? He isn’t that kind of person…or at least I thought he wasn’t. But uh, you already know it was Roman, huh?”

“Yeah, I could tell it was him in the tapes even if he was wearing a mask. There’s no doubt in my mind.” Virgil said and Patton hummed, sitting up and leaning against the headboard.

“There’s something else too, something I noticed while helping him,” Virgil mirrored Patton, watching him fidget his hands. “I thought we were keeping a close enough eye on him, but he’s been hurting himself,” That didn’t come as much of a surprise, he had anticipated that. “I haven’t had the chance to talk to him about it.”

“We’ll talk with him when he recovers, ok? We can tell him everything then, but in the meantime,” Virgil stretched up and cracked his neck. “Logan is gonna stay with us to make sure we’re safe until the FBI arrest those fuckers.”

“Sounds good,” Patton chuckled as Virgil laid across his lap face down after he discarded his hoodie.

“Back rubs, please,” He folded his arms and rested his head on them. “Nothing else we can do for now,” Patton sighed and started rubbing his sore back, but he wasn’t upset at having to ease his husband’s pain. More so that he wanted to deal with this already, he never liked sitting around and waiting. It made him more anxious than Virgil. 

“Do they have any evidence against Roman?” Patton’s hands worked from his waistband up, rubbing out a few knots here and there.

“Hmm,” Virgil closed his eyes, “I don’t know, but that agent had his eyes on someone, probably Remus, that guy is a total weirdo and does live with Roman,” There was no way that Remus had nothing to do with Roman’s exploits. He wanted to confirm his involvement in another video, but Logan had said they were too graphic which did not sit well in Virgil’s stomach. He knew his brother had been raped and tortured, but the details had been kept from him. Probably for good reason.

“He was in our home though,” Patton worked up to his neck, “you think that’s why Janus has been spiraling out?”

“I think so and the fever definitely did not help,” Tension in Virgil’s shoulders relaxed as Patton rubbed out the whiplash in his neck. It would hurt a lot more tomorrow, but those pity points might get him something later. It was really gross to be thinking about that now, huh? You couldn’t blame him since Janus had been home, they hadn’t done it at all. Virgil was getting a little frustrated and worked up, to say the least. Patton stopped and gasped but left his hands on him. “I’m just happy you’re touching me again, I promise.” Virgil tried to defend himself.

“That better be why,” Patton grumbled and if Virgil had been looking up, he was sure he would have seen that adorable blush he loved so much. “It has been a while, hasn’t it, love?” He resumed his rubbing and Virgil almost started purring.

“Mhm,” It wouldn’t hurt to forget about their worries and mistakes for a little while, would it? Patton moved his hands back down to his waist and tug up his t-shirt, placing his palms on his bare skin. “Hmmm,” He groaned softly as his hands slid up his back slowly, sending a shudder down his spine.

“I think we both deserve a break, don’t you, my love?” He said in a hushed, low voice.

“I couldn’t agree more,” One hand remained on his back while the other slid to his pants, across his ass and further down his leg, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. “Fuck, please.” He wanted more, but he also was enjoying Patton’s feather-like touches. A soft tug on his hair prompted him up, though. He straddled Patton’s lap and stared lovingly into his eyes, caressing his cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you more,” Patton grinned and leaned forward to catch Virgil’s lips with his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't finish one of the few instances of consensual sex in this story, crazy right?  
> If you guys want though I can actually finish it.


	13. Present - Thomas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas talks to Remus, that's literally it, but oh boy was this fun to write.
> 
> Again if something doesn't make sense, please let me know and I will fix it immediately!

Thomas stood in front of a one-way window, staring into an interrogation room where Remus sat. He had been sitting there for about 20 minutes and was currently tapping his foot and glancing up at the door anxiously, waiting for the agent to stroll on in with his questions. His brother had been called in as well but remained calm in his own room, but the agent didn’t miss the stiffness in his posture when he had seen him walk in. 

What the hell were these two hiding? Enough waiting, Thomas opened the door, not unsettled in the slightest when Remus’ head snapped up, but still avoided eye contact. 

“Thank you for coming in, Remus, I wanted to continue our conversation from earlier-” He started, but Remus cut him off.

“It’s doctor, and am I under arrest or not?” He started tapping his heel now, his leg bouncing. A clear nervous tick Thomas doubted he could hide even if he tried. The question also sparked a bit of interest as well, but he couldn’t move too fast. To bring him down another peg, he decided to ignore the first thing he said. The last thing the agent wanted was for him to hide behind his title right now or to build self-confidence whenever referred by it. This will be demoralizing to him but still, allow Thomas to maintain an appropriate level of rapport. 

“No, you’re not,” Thomas sat on a chair between Remus and the door, initiating a subliminal message that if he wanted out of that room, he would need to go through him. This would be imperative later after his rights were read to him since one was that he could leave at any time, whenever he felt uncomfortable. Hopefully, this tactic would prevent it from coming to that or at least keep him there for as long as possible. “Would you like something to eat or drink? I can get you anything you want,” Thomas smiled and sat forward in his chair, placing a few files on the table in front of the two. Remus shifted but nodded.

“Yeah, can I have some water?”

“Sure, someone will be here shortly,” Thomas glanced over to the camera then to the window, signaling for someone to bring a bottle of water.

“Thank you.”

“Of course,” Thomas said as Remus relaxed a bit in his seat. “Again, I appreciate you coming in today. We’re going to have a pretty thorough interview today and the reason for that is because the last thing I want is to keep calling you back over and over and over, ok?” Remus nodded again as the agent continued. “So, what we’re going to do is go over a number of things and I’ll explain it all to you, don’t worry,” As he spoke, a man knocked on the door and poked his head in, handing Thomas a bottle of water which he promptly gave to Remus. “Let me know if there’s anything else you need, but has anyone read you your rights?”

“No,” He kept his answer short, but calm. They talked for a few minutes on this topic, saying he was allowed a lawyer at any time, how could leave whenever he wanted, he has the right to know exactly what was going on and that he didn’t have to answer a question if he didn’t want to. 

“You’re already familiar with the Royal Butcher case, but I wanted to ask specifically about one victim in particular first. Janus Zika,” He paused to take in his reaction. Remus had stiffened slightly at the mention of Janus but said nothing. “He was found about 2 months ago barely alive in an abandoned home along with over 2000 tapes,” Thomas opened one of the files with pictures of Janus in the hospital. Remus stared at them intently, not tearing his eyes away to despite the horrifying state the victim was in. “He had been brutally tortured, raped, and starved until he was less than half his original body weight. Not to mention the mental trauma,” Thomas spread three of the pictures out on the table and instead of averting his eyes at the gore, Remus leaned in for a closer look. Interesting. 

This might have been blown off by some as morbid curiosity, but Thomas knew better. 

“The long-standing injuries weren’t what almost killed him though, it was the pentobarbital in his system, a form of anesthesia-”

“I know what it is,” Remus stopped him, his shoulders hunched over as he continued examining the pictures with a blank expression. 

“Of course, you would. Janus had quite a bit in his system, but not enough to kill him. I’m sure of the fact, now more than ever, that this unknown subject or at least one of them has a medical background, but for some reason, they felt pity for Janus.” He punctuated his sentence by tapping a picture of said man. “They’re not a horrible person, they didn’t want to kill someone they had held for 7 years. So, whoever they were, gave just enough to render him unconscious and in a close enough state to death that their partner wouldn’t question them. It was brave, they spared him.” A normal, innocent person would meet his words with a draconian response. Insisting that, no, the kidnapper wasn’t brave for sparing him and would urge a harsh punishment. “What sentence would you think they’d deserve for doing this to a person?”

“Perhaps he was somewhat ok, you know, for not outright killing him…” Remus leaned back in his chair, interlocking his hands on his lap. That was an equivocating response, to divert from the agent's question and avoid having to respond to it in its entirety for fear of being harsh. Which would have only been a problem if he had anything to do with this situation. Still, he wanted Remus to keep talking. Therefore, Thomas kept quiet. “If Janus wanted them to be punished then they should have prison time, of course,” Remus said, looking over the agent’s shoulder. 

“If Janus wanted them? The poor boy thinks the men who stole years from him are the loves of his life, Remus,” Thomas slid the photos forward but noted how he kept his gaze fixated on the door behind him. He paused, allowing Remus to respond, but they only sat in silence with Thomas maintaining eye contact despite the other avoiding it. When the seconds turned to minutes, he relented. “Alright, let’s talk about Janus, who he is, and not what happened to him. He’s the twin brother to a friend of your brother, correct?”

“Yup, Roman’s best friend’s brother,” He said and glanced back down at the pictures on the table.

“How did you know Janus before he went missing?”

“I didn’t know him, I only met Virgil since he’d been over at our house a lot.” A short response, most likely an honest answer.

“Did your brother like Virgil?” 

“No.” The answer was immediate, without a second of hesitation. Clearly, that had been rehearsed. 

“Alright, well, let’s discuss what happened the night Janus went missing, do you remember what exactly you were doing?” Thomas decided on changing the subject, best to avoid a confrontation until he had more information. Besides, he might have asked for a lawyer if he pushed too hard too fast. 

“I don’t remember, that was a long time ago,” Remus chuckled, and normally this would be met with an ‘it’s ok’ or some form of reassurance since it had been a while, but Thomas simply stared at him. Not saying a single thing. “Uh, well, I think I might have been sick, my brother was working that night and Virgil and Patton were out for the weekend at some cabin. And I think their dad was out too. I know that much. We weren’t living with our parents, Roman was living with me in a small house I was renting out while I went to school, so I have no idea what they were up to.” Remus stopped himself, as he appeared to realize he was rambling. A good indication he was lying.

“So, you were sick at home. Listen, I don’t want to catch you in a lie, so I’m going to be upfront with you, Janus has already told us you kidnapped him,” The color drained from Remus’ face and he tried to speak to defend himself, but Thomas held up his hand, maintaining an upright posture. “There’s no point in denying this, he explained everything, but here’s what I think. I think Roman actually wanted Virgil but knew he would be a prime suspect if he went missing, so he arranged for you to take him instead. The only problem, Virgil went out of town without letting him know and when you went to kidnap ‘Virgil,’ you confused him with his twin.” Remus said nothing, neither denying nor agreeing with his accusation. “I think he got really pissed with you but decided to keep Janus since he reminded him of his true target. But you ended up falling for him, so when Roman asked you to end his life, for the first time in your life, you couldn’t bring yourself to kill someone. You spared his life and did the right thing; don’t you want him to know that? Don’t you want Janus to know how much you love him?” 

This was a long shot, Thomas knew, but the sudden accusation would either draw out a confession or a slip up or simply end the interrogation then. He hoped boosting his ego and giving him an alternative to turn on Roman would provide something, anything. 

They sat in silence for 10 painfully long minutes.

“Am I under arrest?” He raised his head and for the first time met eyes with the agent. He had more self-control than Thomas had originally thought. “If all this is true am I under arrest?” Remus had called his bluff. 

“No, but I do have a search warrant for your home and cellphone, but otherwise, you’re free to go,” Thomas said and as soon as the words came from his mouth, Remus stood and walked out. 

This wasn’t over, not by a long shot. Remus’ reactions definitely proved his involvement, but somehow, he was able to see through his bluff. Perhaps then, something in his story made him doubt his claim. 

They had contact with Janus. 

He fixed his tie and called Joan.

“Speak and ye shall be heard, my gay friend!”

“I need you to contact Virgil’s family and let them know to keep on their guard. I don’t have any concrete proof, but I’m concerned these two have been stalking him. If either brother approaches them to try and contact Janus, I want to be informed about it immediately. Can you tell them?”

“Yeah, yeah,” They said before Thomas hung up and sighed. He let one brother go, he wouldn’t allow another. No, but there was a nagging fear in the back of his mind. A sickening feeling that mentioning Janus had been a horrible idea. Only time would tell, he only wished he could find these killers before someone else died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm cross between a few endings, honestly. But thankfully, I still have time to decide.


	14. Author Note: Update Change

Ok! So I didn't want you guys to think I abandoned this, because I 100% did not. I'm still working on the next chapter, but I have had a bunch of stuff come up where I have absolutely no time. I won't go into details, but this stuff isn't going away anytime soon. 

From now on I will update once a week, but that only means more quality and longer chapters.


	15. Captive/Present - Janus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Me: so, I gotta write this chapter which basically decides how this story ends, any ideas?
> 
> Creativity: What if Roman made Janus and Virgil-
> 
> Me: I’m gonna cut you off right there, some lines I will not cross. Besides, that wouldn’t even happen in this one. 
> 
> Creativity: *gives me 101 ways to torture Janus and Virgil instead of helping me write this fucking chapter*
> 
> Me: God damn it, fine, bittersweet ending it is!
> 
> Creativity: Ohhhhhh, we can introduce Remy here and maybe Andy.
> 
> Me: I…you know what sure. 
> 
> And that’s why this took forever to write, and it’s not even the Roman chapter argh Thanks for being patient!

“I want to die. I just want this to be over,” Janus gripped a small paring knife he snatched from the kitchen when his masters weren’t looking. It should have been straightforward. Glide the blade across the wrist, but for one reason or another, his hand stilled on his veins applying the bare minimum amount of pressure. A crimson red glistened from the edge of the knife and trickled down, but at a steady pace, not nearly enough to cause death.

He watched the blood flow down his arm, dripping from his elbow onto the clean white sink. It mesmerized him, a lovely red that belonged to him and him alone. Not the people he killed, not the people his masters killed, and most certainly not the masters themselves. He gently removed the knife from his wrist and waited for the blood to clot before slicing his wrist again. A mark below the first, but it didn’t bleed nearly as freely as the other. Hell, it prickled with blood, but that was it. 

“Janus? Is everything ok?” A soft knock came from the door. Was that Patton’s voice? “You’ve been in there for a while,” He hadn’t heard his brother’s boyfriend’s voice in such a long time, but he had no idea why he was even here in the first place.

He walked over to the door, pressing his face to the wood before whispering through, hoping they could hear him.

“Are they out there?”

“It’s only us, Janus, remember?” Another voice, damn it was becoming hard to keep track. “Will you let us in?” Suddenly, acutely aware of the knife in his hand, Janus frantically searched the bathroom for any place he could hide it.

“No, I don’t wanna go out again, I don’t wanna go out again,” He kept saying to himself, much to the confusion of everyone outside the door. His brain was too fogged and if his master made him go to sleep, he would have horrible nightmares. Though it might have paled in comparison to the nightmare he was living, the additional torment was not welcomed right now.

“What are you talking about, Janus?”

“My name isn’t Janus!” He dropped the knife and started pulling his hair. Slave, his name was slave. Slaves didn’t have names or families, so who were these people? They weren’t his masters. Then that means they had to be the others, right? It’s cold, his entire body started to shake as his fever continued to consume him. “Please, master, I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well, don’t hurt me,” He fell to his knees and pushed himself against the tub, putting as much distance between him and the door he could. If these weren’t his masters, then they were either people the masters took or people they were selling him to. Janus shuddered, whether, from his fever or the idea of strangers touching him again, he couldn’t be certain. 

“Your name is Janus,” That strange voice again, it reminded him of someone. “Can you let me in?” Logan, it had to be Logan. He couldn’t believe it, Logan came to save him, right? Just like he always dreamed. He wouldn’t dare voice his hopes though, lest Roman takes it upon himself to sully Logan’s name again. 

Without a second thought, Janus scrambled to unlock the door, scooting back to allow his fated prince to enter. Said man stepped inside slowly, leaving the door open for Patton to peek inside. 

“Do you remember who I am?” He spoke calmly, sitting in front of Janus who eagerly nodded. Although, it made the world spin and he found himself falling forward, but Logan steadied him by place a hand on his shoulder. “You always pushed yourself too far, huh?” His free hand pushed the messy excuse for hair back to feel Janus’ forehead. “You still feel warm, can you tell me where you are?”   
_________

“Just let me die, please, master,” Janus slurred everything together, resting his head against Remus’ shoulder. They were currently laying on his bed, waiting for the effects of whatever he gave him to wear off.

“You know I can’t do that, love,” Remus ran his fingers through his hair and planted a soft kiss on Janus’ forehead. “You’ll feel better soon,” The entire time it took for the drug to ebb out of his system Remus remained by his side, whispering sweet nothings and leaving soft touches over his body. A stark contrast to Roman’s aggressive, take all, attitude. 

Janus would have been lying if he said he hated these moments with him. A rare sense of peace and calm, where he felt some semblance of normalcy. Still, that did not deter him from begging for death. He knew neither of his masters would give in. Remus would shush him and give reasons why he wanted him alive, whereas Roman would get off on his pleading. 

“Come on, let’s get you something to eat, yeah?” Remus helped Janus sit up despite the frail man’s protests. “You have to walk, or you’ll wilt away,” Begrudgingly, he relented and forced his limbs to move, allowing him to stand on his unsteady legs. “That’s it, you’re doing great, darling,” His master praised and led Janus out of his bedroom and into the kitchen past the living room. 

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Roman stood behind him, but Janus felt the hand on his waist before he heard him. “Dressed in our clothes and listening to what we say,” He pulled his waist back to press against his master’s crotch. 

Janus didn’t bother trying to repress the fluttering in his chest at the praise. It would have normally sickened him, but today he was too exhausted to fight or care.

“He’s been a good boy, I say he deserves a reward after he eats,” Remus fixed something in the microwave, a frozen dinner of sorts. Whatever it was it made Janus’ stomach growl regardless. “What do you think?”

“You always take care of him when he’s coming down, so I’ll ensure he gets the reward he deserves-”

“An actual reward, Roman,” Remus snapped, leaning against the counter while the microwave went off. “Show him how much you love him,” He smiled and it warmed Janus’ heart. There was no doubt in his mind Remus cared for him, even if there were times Janus had some form of punishment. He deserved those beatings, of course. His masters only hurt him because they loved him. 

So why did he want to cry? Why did he look towards the front door and prayed Logan would come to save him? He was happy right? He had to be. His masters fed him, clothed him, and showered him with affection. Sweet kisses, gentle touches, and loving words.   
_________

“I wanted you to save me, I waited for you,” Janus rubbed his eyes, as the world started to make sense around him. He heard a sharp intake of air, and he became vaguely aware of the cuts littering his wrists. “It doesn’t matter anymore, you didn’t care about me, my masters cared and you...you took me away from them!”

“I understand that’s how you feel, Janus,” Logan appeared calm, gently holding his ex's hands in his own. They assisted in grounding him, reminding Janus of a better time. A time when everything was fine. “Let’s get you off the floor,” Logan pulled him up, the man was dead weight in his arms. “What happened to all that pride?” He chuckled and picked Janus up bridal style, carrying him out of the bathroom. “You never let me do this,” Logan continued to tease as Janus leaned against his chest.

“I can make an exception this once, Lo, but if you tell anyone I let you carry me, I will end you,” He muttered and saw the corner of his lips tug into a pleased smile. At least he was doing something right. Logan laid him on the couch and sat at his feet, meanwhile, Patton made his way into view. They shared a look with each other before Patton spoke. 

“Why are you hurting yourself?” That was a stupid question, why wouldn’t he be? Still, he knew why he was asking. He had forgotten to hide that stupid knife. He usually hurt himself with his razor, but he wasn’t thinking clearly.

“Helps silent the voices…” Janus muttered, now staring blankly at the tv which had remained off. 

“What voices?” Logan asked, letting Janus rest is feet on his lap.

“All of the voices.” 

“Including Roman’s?” Patton spoke this time and Janus’ snapped his eyes up at him. Apparently though, his reaction was more than enough of a confirmation. “So, it was Roman, and he hurt you under our own roof-”

“No, he didn’t hurt me, he showed me he loved me, and that-that-” Janus slapped a hand over his mouth and teared up. How could he have let this slip? He was doing so well, and now his masters would never come back for him. He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them, pushing up into the corner of the couch.

“I don’t what they did, but this is not love, and you know it isn’t,” He wasn’t sure who was speaking anymore, the two seemed to meddle into one for whatever reason. His masters did love him, and they would forgive him for letting this slip. They had to, it’s not like he meant to spill anything, including a name, to Patton. It was his fever. 

He couldn’t do this. 

“It’s alright, you spent 7 years with them, and you treasured whenever they would give you affection, right?” Logan asked, keeping a respectful distance between them. 

“Yeah,” Janus relaxed some, letting his arms fall to his side. “I liked it when we would cuddle,” Logan hummed in agreement while Patton’s jaw dropped. He hadn’t spoken much about anything with his masters. Not what they did to him, not how they treated him, only the occasional offhand comment. When Janus thought about it, the only thing he told them was that he liked wearing jackets outside because it made him comfortable. It’s not like he had any desire to talk about the reason behind that though. And most certainly not the reason behind why he wouldn’t leave his room without permission. 

Janus remembered an episode of some stupid drama Roman loved, how freely the people talked about their traumas. As if fear didn’t paralyze their being with the mere thought of telling anyone what had been done to them. 

“That constant back and forth you’re feeling right now is completely normal,” God, how could Logan read him so well? “This isn’t a movie or some stupid sitcom, you can’t undo 7 years of conditioning in the span of one conversation, but it’s imperative that you accept that they hurt you,” Logan clenched his fists, but quickly relaxed them before shifting closer, closing the gap between them. “What they did was unfair,” Janus stared up at him, icy blue eyes meeting mismatched ones. “The pain they inflicted upon you was cruel,” His right-hand caressed Janus’ cheek, his thumb tracing over a faint scar. 

Logan was right when he said nothing would be fixed with a few words, but Janus broke down regardless. From all the confusion, all the pain, all the trauma. He sobbed and cried and clung to Logan, babbling nonsense. Words that made sense to him, but not to the two other men in the room. 

All he wanted was for things to make sense again. Air, he needed air. Without speaking, Janus stumbled over to the front door and swung it open. Hoping for any chance to escape that mentally draining situation, but he didn’t expect to meet face to face with an old friend whose hand was raised midair in a fist.

“Remy?” Janus said in disbelief.

“Well, I was gonna knock first, but yeah,” He dropped his hand and shoved them into the pockets of his leather jacket. Despite his words being playful, the teasing didn’t meet his tone and Janus doubted his eyes. Though, they were hidden behind his sunglasses. 

“What are you doing here?” Janus smiled, he was actually pleasantly surprised to see him, but it fell when Remy spoke.

“Just listening to the masters,” His hands shifted in his pockets as Logan walked over to them, his gun in the holster on his waist. Remy eyed it suspiciously before taking a step back. “I’m sorry, just a little longer,” Before Janus or Logan could question him further, Remy turned on his heels and walked away with a limp in his step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guys think Janus was the only one?


	16. Captive - Roman/Janus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus is moved to a new location.

Roman wasn’t stupid enough to keep Janus at his home, especially not after the pathetic bitch’s last escape attempt. Which ended with them killing someone in their own home! You want to talk about risky, they had to bury him in the basement. No body, no murder. The police would assume he went missing. Of course, though, that didn’t stop them from searching the area he disappeared from. Still, they had no reason to go digging around in their house. Janus would have to be moved one of his cabins on a plot of land farther away from the city. 

“No way!” Remus stood up, sending his chair flying back to hit the tiled floor. “I’ll keep a better eye on him, I promise,” Despite the anger in his eyes and speaking through a clenched jaw, Roman could hear the quiver and desperation in his voice. 

“You’ve gotten far too attached if you think you’re the problem,” Roman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “First off, we’re both working full time and on call even on our days off, so no, you can’t keep a better eye on him. Second, unless you want his mental health to take an even sharper decline, I suggest letting him stay with the others-”

“Even sharper decline? What the fuck are you talking about?” Remus scoffed and turned his back on him to fix the chair he had almost forgotten about. Meanwhile, Roman propped his arm on the table, resting his face in his face and staring blankly at his brother. 

“He stopped fighting me,” He said as Remus sat back down on his chair, albeit shifting uncomfortably. It wasn’t like they could afford quality furniture, but Roman doubted that was the cause of his brother’s discomfort. 

“He does whatever I say too, what’s the problem with that?” Remus gave a breathy laugh and waved his hands dismissively.   
“He wanted me to get bored of him, so I would end his life already. His words, not mine,” Roman leaned back in his chair and sighed, blowing a stray piece of hair out of his face. “I would give him what he wants, but I…He looks too similar to Virgil and I can’t bring myself to kill him. This is the next best option,” Remus gritted his teeth and clenched his fists under the table. He was holding back anger, most likely at the mere idea Roman wanted to kill his precious toy. 

“Fine, but when I want him home, I will have him home and you won’t touch him.” Remus stood again, but calmly, even pushing the chair back in. “He wants to kill himself because of you,” Roman scoffed at his brother’s assessment and worried for a moment about how Remus saw his and Janus’ relationship. He couldn’t allow Remus to genuinely fall for the guy or they would fall into dangerous territory, but Roman feared it was little too late. 

“I hope you’ll be capable of ending his life when the time comes,” Roman stood as Remus walked out of the kitchen but stopped in the archway.

“Will you be able to kill Virgil?” Remus asked quietly, keeping his back to Roman who continued to stare blankly at nothing in particular. They remained like that for a brief moment before Remus chuckled, breaking the silence. “Worry about yourself, dear brother.”

_________

They were finally going to finish this, at least, that’s what Janus had hoped when Remus blindfolded him and shoved him into the back of their car. Typically, whenever they went out the two wouldn’t bother covering his eyes with anything more than sunglasses, but today was different. Today they drove farther than before. A ride would normally be about an hour at most, but this had to be a three-hour drive. Consequently, Janus assumed the best or worst, it depended.   
On one hand, the idea of death calmed him, it would mean the end of his pain and be a just reward for the blood on his conscious, but on the other hand, it terrified him to his core. He wanted to fight when Remus put the blindfold on him, but instead, he remained pliable, putty for the masters to manipulate. 

Even while lying on the disgusting, grimy floor of their shitty van, Janus couldn’t find it in him to bother removing the blindfold. Roman had tied his hands together, but they were in front of him, so it wouldn’t have been that difficult to use them. Still, he remained where he was, not bothering to even count the turns. Not like he would have been able to escape if he tried.

The car stopped. This was it; it was somewhat of a decent life. He only hoped his body would be discovered eventually and not left to rot in the middle of nowhere like the others. 

Janus shuddered at the thought.

“You were so good, love, you didn’t make a peep the entire time,” Remus praised, but Janus said nothing in return as he heard the brothers step out of the car. 

The sound of his heartbeat rang in his ears, drowning out any other sound from his masters. Well, it’s not like they were talking regardless. Roman dragged him out of the car, forced him to stand on his wobbly legs, and pulled off his blindfold.  
At first, it was almost all too bright to register where he was. All he could see was that they were in a forest, or more accurately, a plot of land with quite a few trees. Janus glanced up when Roman pushed him forward towards a small flight of stairs that led up to a wooden deck attached to a two-story cabin. He winced as the gravel from the driveway dug into the soles of his bare feet.

Remus walked up the stairs first, Janus and Roman following close behind. 

“Step back from the door, lovelies,” Remus ordered in a sing song voice before he unlocked the door and stepped inside. His and Roman’s boots creaked on the wooden floor, but Janus’ heard nothing from himself while he kept his head down. “This is Janus!” Remus grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him forward. The small man stumbled and would have lost his balance if not for Remus steadying him. He contemplated saying something but bit his tongue as he glanced up.   
There were two men in the room, one wore a white stained shirt and jeans with his hair a ruffled mess while the other standing next to him-

“Virgil…?” Janus barely recognized his own voice at this point, cracked and weak. The other man looked strikingly similar to his brother, hell, he even wore the same old plaid hoodie, but this wasn’t Virgil. This guy was shorter and carried himself proudly with his head held high and shoulders squared back, despite their current situation. It gave him mixed feelings. 

“What did you say?” Remus asked, his grip tightening on his shoulders which would surely leave bruises. More to the pile, Janus supposed.

“Forgive me, master, I thought…he looks like Virgil, please forgive me,” Janus saw the reactions of the other men first. Both of them frowned and their shoulders dropped slightly, the Virgil look-alike shoved his hands his pockets with a frustrated huff. 

“We killed him a while ago, don’t tell me you were lying when you said you were glad,” Roman spoke from behind him and chilled the frightened man to his core. The last thing Janus wanted to admit was secretly holding onto hope that his family was actually fine, but he didn’t need to. His silence was enough of an answer. 

“And you were being so good too, slave,” Remus smirked and trailed a hand up to his hair, yanking his head to the side. “We’ll have to punish you now,” He grazed his teeth against the trembling man’s neck but froze when one of the other captives spoke up.

“Use one of us instead, please,” The one with the white shirt stepped forward, placing a hand on his chest. “Use me, just don’t hurt him anymore,” Remus hummed in response and glanced back towards his brother. 

“Don’t be so eager,” Roman said and dropped a bag on the old dusty couch in the middle of the room. “I’m exhausted from driving, take this to my room, Andy,” He ordered, and the Virgil look-alike nodded and grabbed the bag, walking into a room right by them. The cabin was small, the living room was large enough for one couch, a small fireplace, and a kitchen just off to the side. There was a staircase-if you could call it that, they were steep enough to be a ladder instead-leading up to a loft area that overlooked the living room, and at the base of the steps was the door that Andy walked into.

At one point or another, the brothers stepped onto the back porch for a smoke, leaving the three alone in the living room, standing around awkwardly. If he was back at home, Janus would have known exactly what to do, nothing. Literally, they would leave him in one of their rooms or his in the basement to simply sit around and wait for them. A particular moment came to his mind where he had an accident because his masters had left him down there for 2 days straight without access to a bathroom. They moved him to Roman’s room after that whenever they would be gone for extended periods of time. It had an en suite.

Janus hugged himself and shifted over the couch and sat down in the middle.

“I take it you’ve been held a lot longer than we have, I’m Remy, and this is Andy,” The guy in the white shirt said, pointing his thumb at the other. Janus glanced up but shrugged and leaned back against the couch. There wasn’t any point in making friends, they’d be dead soon anyway, just like everyone else. 

Remy sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“We’ve been here a month, maybe, they took us at different times-”

“How long have they held you?” Andy sat next to Janus, crossing his legs and leaning back as well. He appeared far too relaxed for their situation.

“The masters will be back any minute,” Janus attempted to convey his discomfort over having this conversation, but Remy only whistled, walking into the kitchen before calling out.

“Fuck, girl, awhile then, you couldn’t be any older than us,” Remy returned with three cans of off-brand soda, tossing two to Andy, “Luckily, they just wanna relax after traveling,” He grabbed the remote Janus assumed was for the tv in the corner. “They won’t do anything as long as you keep your head down and mouth shut,” Andy placed the lukewarm soda in Janus’ hand and cracked open his. 

“Can’t speak for after sundown though,” Andy sipped his drink with a dark look in his eyes and Janus stared blankly at him. He wasn’t stupid, he had his assumptions, but that’s all they were. Assumptions and they never did anyone any good. “Take a picture, it’ll last long,” Best to not dwell on them. 

He opened his as well and tasted the bitterly sweet drink. He had never cared much for soda, especially warm soda, but his masters were quite fond of it. 

“They’ll feed us and expect at least one of us to warm their bed tonight,” Remy shuddered and sat next to Janus. They watched some shows together, a static mess that came in and out occasionally, but was entertaining none the less. “How old were you when they…ya know,” Remy asked, keeping his eyes focused on the tv. It was slightly comforting; Janus spared a glanced to the back door. Roman and Remus were still out back, talking about something he couldn’t hear. 

“19,” He kept his answer short, but felt nothing as the other two winced. 

“Fuck, 19, you’re a baby,” Andy sighed and set his drink on the chest made coffee table in front of them. “How long have you been with them?” Janus opened his mouth to say something, anything, but he couldn’t think. So, he shut his mouth and exhaled through his nose, strictly keeping his eyes glued to the tv. He couldn’t have answered even if he wanted to due to the small fact Janus had no idea anymore. It had been too long, and besides, he didn’t bother keeping track after a year. 

“Janus, Remy, you two will sleep with me tonight,” Roman said when he stepped back into the cabin, standing behind them, reeking of cigarettes and booze which made Janus scrunch his nose. He hated when Roman got drunk, he became a lot more violent.

“Together, no way, give the kid a break-” Remy didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before Roman held a knife to his throat. “I’m sorry,” He froze.

“You’re lucky I’m feeling nice today,” He sheathed the knife in the holster on his leg and snapped his fingers. “Take yours, Remus, but I’m recording tonight,” Roman said, and Remus huffed, grumbling something inaudible under his breath before forcing Andy into one of the bedrooms downstairs. 

Janus and Remy both followed Roman into what appeared to be the master bedroom of this little cabin. It had an en-suite bathroom, a tv on the wall in front of the bed, but that was it. He glanced up at Remy to see his eyes glazed over.

“It gets easier,” Janus muttered, reaching over and giving his hand a soft squeeze. “I promise,” Remy sighed, but said nothing as Roman ordered them on the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Creativity: How about we write a fluffy fic where Janus cuddles with the sides cause he’s a cold snek boi? 
> 
> Me: …It’s like I don’t even know you anymore.


	17. Planning an Update!

Thank you all for being patient with this, I've had to rewrite this damn chapter like 3 times and it's driving me nuts. Not only that I had wanted to finish this one BEFORE I had my wisdom teeth pulled. But no, I'm not gonna write crap since it's been incredibly difficult to focus. 

I have about two pages written for the next chapter now that I'm coming down from the meds and surgery. And this chapter does progress the plot! I promise ha

Then college will be starting back up the 24 and I will have to slow updates to once a month if I want any chance of passing. 

I just want to make it clear I have every intention to finish this, I'm enjoying writing it! Except for the constant rewrites ugh.

Again, thanks for the patience! The next chapter should be out within a few days. Giving myself a hard deadline of Wednesday.


	18. Present - Roman/Virgil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman speaks with Agent Thomas Sanders whom has a trick up his sleeve. 
> 
> Warnings: Roman being a psychopath and rape 
> 
> The long-awaited Roman interrogation! Thanks for being patient with this chapter! It took me three tries, ugh, but worth it. This is probably the longest chapter at over 3,200 words. Figured I'd make it worth the wait!

This was ridiculous. 2 hours. 2 hours he had been sitting there, alone. What the hell could they be doing? Did they forget about him? No, this was a tactic to put him on edge, and Roman would be damned if he let them get under his skin. The only thing worrying him right now was Remus. He had coached him beforehand on what to do during an interrogation, keep answers short and sweet while being as vague as possible. If the detective became confrontational, he told him to leave as soon as possible, before he said something he regretted. 

He only hoped that idiot actually listened to him for once, lest they have a repeat of the incident from 7 years ago. Sure, it hadn’t been an entire waste, he actually enjoyed playing with the slut, but he was still a mistake. A mistake that needed to be dealt with after this little interview.

Roman tapped his foot impatiently, staring at the one-way window in front of him while he absently noted the actual window behind him.

“We gonna do this or what?” He taunted whoever was standing behind there, watching him. Of course, he couldn’t be certain, but this wasn’t his first run-in with the law. 

The door opened and Roman snapped his head over to see a rather attractive man in a suit and tie. 

“I’m Agent Thomas Sanders, I would say a pleasure, but it’s not.” He dropped a stack of files down onto the table, a few pictures of his mutilated victims peeking out of the vanilla folder. It had almost been enough to distract him from the rather brash nature this agent had. Almost. Roman was no fool. He knew something. “I’m sure you recognize them.” The agent tapped the folder before he slid it closer to him. “You like film, Mr. Adimos?” He pulled the other chair at the table out before he sat down. 

“Am I under arrest?”

“Now you see, that’s funny, your brother asked the same thing,” Thomas chuckled, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “I suppose we should start there, yes; you are under arrest.” Roman blanked out while he was read his rights. Not due to fear or anxiety, but white-hot anger. His fist clenched tightly under the table, enough to wrack a small tremor in his arms.

Janus blabbed. He knew he blabbed. This was all Remus’ fault if he had done his job-

“You remember this guy?” Thomas ripped him from his thoughts, pushing forward a picture of a man who looked all too similar to the one he could never have. “His name is Andrew Maro and this is Remy Solerte.” He slid another picture beside it, a youthful guy with sunglasses and a leather jacket. Roman snickered before he could help himself. “Oh, so you do. Good, where are they?”

“I don’t know, I’m not the guy that did all of this,” Roman said. 

“Yeah that’s a lie, wanna know how I know that’s a lie?” Thomas pulled several photos from the folder and everything around him became inconsequential. They were pictures of Janus, Remy, and Andy in several compromising positions. If this were any other situation it would have “These were found on your phone.” He tapped one of Janus and Andy lying unconscious on Remus’ bed. “So, drop the act, where are Andrew and Remy?”

“I don’t know.” He slammed his hand on the table, but Thomas did not flinch. This wasn’t happening, there was no way they could have gotten photos off his phone. But he did, and he had. 

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t.” He almost yelled at that point, which made Thomas shake his head.

“I don’t need to be sitting in here with you, I have enough to charge you for over 30 counts of first-degree murder, three counts of kidnapping and-”

“I didn’t kidnap Janus!”

“Then who did?”

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t me.” Roman leaned back and ran a hand through his hair, mind racing with ways to get out the situation. He wanted to call a lawyer, but he could handle this on his own, plus a lawyer would make him look even guiltier. 

“You hate your job?”

“What?” He was starting to get whiplash from the conversation. “I-I…”

“Changing diapers all day and cleaning up piss and vomit sure sounds fun,” He said and crossed his legs. “So, I suspect you hate your job?”

“Yeah of course I hate it.” It wasn’t a lie, he despised working as a nurse but only did it for access to medical supplies. Therefore, he could swipe whatever Remus and he needed. Otherwise, they were shut out of luck, not exactly a lot of pentobarbital in a medical examiner’s office. 

The two of them sat in silence, the only noise being the incessant buzzing of the light and the sound of traffic outside. 

“What do you want me to say, huh? I fucking did it? Cause I didn’t,” Roman sighed as maintained eye contact with the agent who scoffed at his words. 

“Stop sitting here and saying you didn’t, we have concrete proof, plus someone who IDed you-”

“What? Janus? Fuck!” He slammed his hand down again and laughed. “He’s a suicidal idiot! There’s no way he’s going to ruin my fucking life, you hear me?” He pointed at Thomas who sighed but remained quiet. “This is ridiculous-” Roman huffed, but before he could continue disregarding the evidence the agent had, Thomas cut him off.

“That night, Remus kidnapped Janus, didn’t he? He brought him home and somehow you found out and tried to keep your brother safe, but you couldn’t stop what he was doing. Is that what happened?” He suggested, a drastic change in his demeanor from outright antagonist to calm and compassionate. If he agreed with his assessment and relented it would mean admitting to being complicit in the murders, but it would also mean the majority of the blame would be placed on Remus. In that case, he would be spared the death penalty. He was silently grateful for his acting abilities, it helped tremendously in the long run. Not only with the current situation, but in keeping Virgil close as well. He would do anything to stay with him, even throw his brother under the bus. 

“Yeah, you’re right. He went off on his own and if wasn’t for me, Remus would have killed him. I wanted no fucking part in it! I promise!” Roman acted while he waved his arms about, but Thomas appeared unimpressed.

“I see. Would you like anything, a blanket perhaps?” He asked as pulled the photos back into the folder. It gave Roman a bit respite. Perhaps the agent bought it and he would be let off easy, but he doubted it still. 

“A blanket, please, and some water,” He said and watched when Thomas stood, folder in hand.

“Alright, I’m going to step out, but I’ll be back momentarily.” He waited for Roman to nod before leaving the room, abandoning him to the mercy of his thoughts. 

How could he have been so careless? Leaving pictures on his phone wasn’t like him. It was something only Remus would be sloppy enough to do. Wait, now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember taking those pictures. 

Those were found on Remus’ phone, not his. He had just tied his own noose. 

Roman bashed the wall next to him and nearly screamed. How could he have been so stupid?! How! He hit his hand again but stopped. His hands were free, they hadn’t cuffed him to the table. He smirked and stood to walk over to the window peering out. It was on the second floor. Perhaps he could escape with a sprained ankle if he was lucky, if not, well; guess he would need to make buddies with some guards because he wouldn’t make it far. 

Quickly, he slid the window open and climbed out, careful to not land on his heels. He cringed, but due to certain circumstances, he couldn’t wallow in the pain before dashing off away from the city in a full sprint. First, he had to put as much distance between him and the police as possible, then find somewhere to hide and change his appearance before he attempted to leave for the cabin. Thankfully, he knew exactly what to do in such a situation. 

He ran down an alley and slipped into the back entrance of a restaurant he worked part-time at on the side. So long as no one questioned him he could grab his work clothes, change into those and make a break for it. 

He poked his head into the locker room and sighed in relief, it was empty. He then made his way to his locker, grabbed his clothes from inside along with a pistol, and went to change in the bathroom. This had all gone to shit, he had to hope Remus would be able to make his way back to the cabin eventually. There wasn’t much point in dealing with Janus now after all. In essence, he had planned on luring him to a remote location and ending his life Cain and Abel style, but the police knew everything now. All because Remus just had to have those pictures on his phone. 

No matter, he would return, dispose of Remy and…leave. He would never see Virgil and a huge chunk of him wasn’t prepared to forget about him. A dangerous voice to listen to. Kidnapping Virgil would add an unnecessary variable to his escape, but it was a risk he was more than willing to take. 

He finished changing and stored the gun in his pants, hidden under his work shirt. Virgil would be finished with work eventually; he could ambush him then. It wasn’t exactly too far, only an hour walk, an hour and a half if he took the back alleys to stay hidden from the cops which he should. Then he could steal his car. 

Perfect.

__________

Virgil rested his head on his desk, allowing the cool wood to ease his impending headache. All of his students had left a while ago, leaving him to his thoughts. He should have taken more time off, all he could think about was his brother and husband. Whether they were doing ok or not, if Janus had a freakout or if the fucking reporters were harassing them again. Just a lot of things streaming through his head that left him at a loss for his classes. Let’s just say, he planned to have them watch more than enough videos to compensate for it. 

Although, part of him wanted to stay at school to work to avoid returning home to that chaos and it made him feel sick with himself. His brother needed him more than ever. His thoughts moved to how his brother used to act, how happy he was with all of his passions. It made a small smile creep on Virgil’s face. Perhaps he could take them all to the zoo. See the snakes and lizards. Maybe Janus’ favorite, the Komodo Dragon. That would be a nice treat after all of this stuff was settled. 

He nodded to himself, that’s what they would do. He would talk to Patton about it when he got home, but of course, he had to get up first. His body relented, having found comfort in the chilly classroom while bundled up in his hoodie. Despite that, he managed to force himself up, grab his bag, and leave the school. 

A weird uneasiness crept into the pit of Virgil’s stomach when he made it to his car. He glanced around when he unlocked his car. There wasn’t anyone there, no students, no other teachers, no one. His anxiety was getting the best of him again, he chuckled to himself and got in his car, starting it up as soon as he sat down. The old shit car he could barely manage to afford hummed as it came to life. It may have been cheap and broke down a lot, but at least he and Patton made an effort to keep it clean to the best of their abilities. Any stain was leftover from its last owner. 

Virgil checked the rearview mirror and turned around to pull out of the parking spot.

Only for him to stare down the end of a barrel. 

“Wha-”

“Drive, I don’t want to have to kill you,” Roman ordered, his eyes void of anything, strictly focused on Virgil. It sent a chill down his spine, he felt like he was staring into the emotionless eyes of a shark. An animal. “Get on the interstate.” 

“What, so you can finally fulfill the fantasy you had with Janus? No fucking way.” 

“I don’t think I made myself clear,” He pressed the gun to his forehead, “Drive or you’re dead.” Virgil took a deep breath; he had no choice unless he wanted to end up on the never-ending victim list. He steadied his trembling hands and put the car in reverse.

“Fine.” There weren’t exactly a lot of options at the moment, so what choice did he have. Die or live. He chose to live, in spite of knowing there was a tremendous amount of pain in store for him. Pain he couldn’t even begin to fathom. Still, he drove onto the interstate and followed each of Roman’s instructions until his gas light came on. “We need gas,” He stated, and watched the bastard peek over his shoulder to check. 

“Pull over at the next exit,” He muttered and leaned back while he retained an upright posture. Not once did he relax, especially not when Virgil made it to a station. To his dismay, no other cars were there. “Pump the gas, try anything and I shoot you in the leg, drag you back to the car and drive myself while you slowly bleed to death in the back. Understood, storm cloud?” Virgil cringed at the use of the nickname and nodded. “Hurry up.”

He retrieved his wallet and stepped out of the car. It may have been empty, but this place didn’t look cheap. There had to be cameras somewhere, hopefully. 

Virgil made quick work of paying for his gas, ignoring how his body shook with apprehension and fear. He tapped his leg quickly, flexing his other hand at odd angles while he silently prayed to whatever god existed.

“Please, just let me make it out of this alive. I want to love on Patton again, I want to see Janus and visit my father. Hell, I even wanna see Janus’ old snake!” Virgil thought, not daring to voice it lest he angers Roman. He could deal with the torture, at least he hoped he could. In the meantime, he had to play nice. Maybe keep a part of his soul to himself if he had the chance. 

“Get back in now, it’s finished,” Roman barked which snapped Virgil from his thoughts.

At some point, they pulled up to an old hunting cabin of sorts in the middle of nowhere. They had driven up some dirt road, past what he supposed was a dilapidated church, up a hill and onto a gravel driveway. 

“Turn the car off and get out,” He ordered, and Virgil did as he asked. Even following his instruction to walk inside the home which Roman promptly locked them inside of, all while the gun remained pointed at him. There wasn’t anyone there, but it was well kept, not a single thing out of place. “Remy?” He called out and growled when he didn’t get a response. “Remy!” He started muttering to himself before he took a deep breath. It was a bit unsettling, aside from everything else, he had never seen Roman become unhinged like this. 

“Roman-”

“This plot of land stretches for over 5 acres and it’s at least a 30-minute drive to the nearest other house, and I know it like the back of my hand.” He stepped forward, pressing the gun to his abdomen. “Escape and I will hunt you down for sport and let Remus fuck your corpse, capeesh?” He stared into his eyes and Virgil couldn’t hide the flash of fear and disgust. Roman smirked and sniggered, all too pleased with himself. “Go into that room.” He pointed to the door behind Virgil and watched as the man obeyed. 

The room had a queen-sized bed with a plaid comforter, a tv, and an en-suite it seemed. There wasn’t much time to process his surroundings between stepping inside and Roman following him in. Although, Virgil noted he no longer had the gun on his person. Or at least, it was no longer visible and aimed at him. 

“Strip.”

“Excuse me?” He almost laughed but couldn’t as Roman punched him in the nose which sent him crashing back onto the bed which helped him avoid busting his head on the floor. “Fuck!” His eyes immediately began to water as he screamed in pain, holding his now broken nose. 

“Strip, then I’m going to tie you up and we’re going to have some long-awaited fun, slave,” Roman said, and Virgil stared up at him in disbelief. What the fuck did he just call him? No, this was the same thing he did to Janus, he wouldn’t let him destroy him too. He only had to pretend to give it, that’s it. Obey, avoid pain like his bleeding nose, and search for any way to escape. He could find the keys- Roman pulled him up by the hair and punched him in the gut, which sent Virgil to his knees. “I don’t have all day; I have a lesson to beat into you.” 

Virgil grunted and wheezed, attempting to catch his breath while he took his jacket and shirt off. If his mind was going a mile a minute before, it was completely lost on him now. Speeding by so fast he couldn’t process. Everything numbed when he stripped. When Roman tied his hands together and forced him onto the bed. He shut down, not fighting back as Roman kissed and worshipped his body.

“You should have been with me, not that idiot,” He said and stared into his eyes, “You are a million times better than Janus, and you always will be.” Roman continued kissing his body and Virgil tried his best to keep quiet even when he reached his flaccid penis. “We’ll take care of this, love. We can be together now, no more surrogates. Not when I finally have the real thing.”

Roman raped him, and the worst part is, Virgil did not fight back. He kept quiet and allowed who he thought was his best friend to take advantage of him, not that he would have been able to stop him if he tried. 

He just continued thinking of Janus and how this had happened to him on multiple occasions. Conscious and unconscious. He thought of Patton and his adorable smile that he loved so much. Logan even crossed his mind, they might not have been close before Janus was taken, but they were still friends. He wondered how long it would take him to be found.

Virgil only hoped it wasn’t seven years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently working on two other fics at the moment, Criminal Sides and Janus Tries an Edible to Chill Out (might change the name ha). This added to the workload, but keep a lookout if you're interested in fanfic where the sides are FBI agents themselves. None of them will be unsympathetic as well, but I'm not entirely sure if I should make it shippy or not. 
> 
> Well, we all know I would ship Janus and Logan, like come on. Course though I also love Janus/Logan/Patton, so who the fuck knows? lmao
> 
> Let me know what you thought about this chapter! And if you have any ideas for torture cause that's coming. If you thought the first part of this was bad. 
> 
> Hell, I wouldn't be opposed to working on Criminal Sides with someone. I'm a bit of a perfectionist though. Ahh, I'll stop rambling. Thanks for reading!


	19. Captive - Janus/Remus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus takes things into his own hands. 
> 
> Warning: Necrophilia heavily implied, description of a corpse, suicide attempt, torture, and murder. 
> 
> Current update schedule: Every Wednesday

As horrible as it may sound, Janus was thankful for the presence of the other two victims held with him, they allowed him a momentary respite from the torture while Remus took the time to break them in. He had his arms tied behind his back, leaning against a pole behind him. They had been taken to a shed behind the cabin, it wasn’t as spacious as the basement, but it did the job. Plus, there were significantly more tools for his masters to utilize. New methods of pain one could not begin to fathom. 

Andy had been strapped down to a table, naked with exception to his boxers. Conversely, Remy, fully clothed, had his hands bound above him, leaving him to dangle from a hook where instead of touching the dirt floor, his bare feet rested against a wooden stool. He had been positioned to face the end of the table for a full view of what Remus had planned.

Janus stared at his feet; legs extended in front of him for a chance to stretch out while he sat on the floor. His socks were a disgusting brown from the dirt and the ends of pajama pants matched. The color had faded drastically, they used to be a dark green plaid, but years of use left them worn. 

He wondered if the masters would gift him new ones if he asked. 

“Let’s get started, shall we?” Remus grabbed a hammer from a small tray table beside Andy’s head. “You two have been quite the pain in the ass lately!” He said rather chirper, but the only response he received would have been Andy’s increase in breathing, pale face and wide eyes. “Wonder how many bones I should break. Oh, I know!” He grinned and held the hammer up to Andy’s face. “You never use your right hand.” With that, Andy started to struggle against the leather holding him down, but Remus hushed him. “I’ve broken my love’s hands plenty of times and I’m always able to fix them,” He claimed, and it wasn’t a lie, Janus noted. Remus used to break his non-dominant hand and arm, well, every part of him if he was honest. Yet, he managed to patch him up without fail every time.

He cringed and winced as he breathed in. Ribs took a significantly longer time to heal though. 

“Please don’t hurt him, master!” Remy cried, tears clinging to the corner of his eyes. “I’m the one that disobeyed, please hurt me instead.” Remus laughed and ran his fingers through Andy’s hair in a way that could have been construed as comfort. It had a visible effect, causing him to shake and start to break into sobs.

“Shh, slave,” Remus whispered before trailing the hand from Andy’s hair down his body, resting his palm flat against his chest in another calming gesture. Without warning, he slammed the hammer onto his right hand and Andy screamed, unable to move away as Remus smashed his wrist. It was ear piercing and mixed with Remy’s own pleas; Janus didn’t care at this point anymore. Same shit different day, as long as he wasn’t being punished this time he could deal. “There we go!” He laughed and set the hammer down, allowing Andy to cry and whimper. “What should I do next,” He asked himself and glanced over the tray table, then at Janus. 

“Don’t touch him,” Remy said, but it held no weight behind it. A meager attempt to sound any bit menacing. 

“Oh?” Remus grinned and grabbed a scalpel before making his way over to Janus. “Are you going to stop me, slave? You look a bit tied up at the moment,” He started laughing and kneeled in front of Janus who remained still. If he was going to cut his face again, then so be it. There wasn’t a single point in fighting anymore. “What’s the matter, love?” Remus caressed his scarred cheek, staring into his different colored eyes. 

“Kill me, please, master,” Janus begged quietly and watched as the smile fell from his master’s face. Remus did not appear angry as he furrowed his brow, more confused, and what might have been misconstrued as genuine concern.

“Why would I do that, love?” Of course, there was no benefit in killing his precious toy. No value in sparing Janus the suffering. Remus’ sighed and then used the scalpel the cut the rope that bound him. When Janus didn’t immediately move to rub his sore wrist, Remus took it upon himself to do so. He massaged the ache out and kissed his hand, all while Janus remained complacent. “Janus?” He scrunched his nose at the sound of his name, something he hardly ever heard come from his master’s mouth. 

“Yes?” 

“Let’s rest tonight, we can cuddle and watch TV, how does that sound?” He asked which caused Janus to almost smile, but cuddles meant drugs. And the drugs made him feel awful, so he pressed his lip into a thin line instead. 

“Just leave him alone-”

“Shut up!” Remus screamed over Remy and clenched his fists until they shook. “Say another fucking word and it’ll be your head I bash in.” He stood and stabbed Remy in the leg, careful to avoid any arteries. Remy, of course, screamed bloody murder, but Janus tuned it out. 

At some point or another, Remus patched Remy and Andy up before he forced them to stand. Although, Remy kept his weight off his injured leg. He then turned to Janus. 

“Stand up, let’s go,” He ordered, but Janus remained on the floor, unable to care about his master’s orders. Perhaps if he disobeyed, they would finally off him. “I said get up!” The only response Remus received were two different colored eyes staring straight through him albeit glazed over with the years of abuse he had endured. “If you don’t get up, I will make what Roman does to you a mercy in comparison.” 

“Yes, master,” Janus muttered, Remus’ threat instilling a sense of terror that overrode his desire for death. 

His master kept his promise. He bundled Janus up in one of his fluffy green blankets made out of fleece, fixed them a frozen dinner then cuddled up with him for the night.

“What’s going on with you?” 

“What do you mean, master?” Janus asked, but he knew exactly what Remus was talking about. How he had become almost catatonic, unable to respond unless otherwise threatened. 

“Don’t play coy with me, love.” There was that word again. Love. His master loved him, that should have been enough, but it wasn’t. Janus shrugged as he snuggled further into the blanket, now covering half his face. Meanwhile, Remus huffed and turned back to the tv. 

Janus was pleasantly surprised that his master had neglected to drug him that night, instead, he held him close to his chest as he fell asleep. If there had been any onlookers, it would have appeared normal. Two lovers resting in each other’s arms, the pleasant hum of their tv in the background. 

He felt tears sting his eyes but couldn’t pinpoint the reason behind them. He should have been happy. No, he was happy. He had to be.

The morning came abruptly with Remy frantically shaking him awake. Janus’ eyes shot open and he froze in place, staring wildly at the man who had just woken him.

“Andy ran away,” He blurted out, “He said he couldn’t take it anymore and when I woke up, he was gone.” Janus chuckled as his heart rate slowed, melting back into his blanket. Though he duly noted that Remus was not laying with him. Which meant one thing.

“He’s dead, forget about him, I’m honestly surprised either of you lasted this long.” Janus rolled over onto his side, back to Remy who was left speechless. He couldn’t have been bothered to care though; it was a wonder the two have them had survived years with him. The company had been nice, he would miss Andy for sure. 

“We…We have to do something…”

“There’s nothing to do, move on with your life.”

“What life?” Remy scoffed and Janus felt the bed dip beside him as he sat next to him. “It’s been 3 years; I’ve been keeping track. I know I never had the best relationship with my family, but I thought at least-” It was Janus’ turn to laugh now, and it rippled through him in a howl. A strange sick euphoria overtaking him. 

“I thought that to!” He managed to slip through his giggles and breaths for air. “But I’m still fucking here!” When those words echoed back in his head, the laughter died down. Replaced with an empty feeling in his chest and a lump in his throat. “I’m still here…” He repeated. Remy made to rub his back, but Janus flinched away. “Get out. I want to go back to sleep.”

“But you always sleep-”

“So?” Janus cut him off again and turned back to face the equally disheveled man. “Not like there’s anything else to do, besides get fucked and watch black and white TV. So, let me sleep.” Remy sighed with a nod, but instead of leaving, he moved to lay beside him. As much as Janus wanted to speak against his advances, he couldn’t be bothered to care. He scooted to lay face to face with him, wrapping the both of them up in the soft blanket Janus had. 

“I know you’ve been here longer than any of us, you’ve been made to do horrible things but,” Remy tucked a stray piece of hair behind Janus’ ear, causing a light flush to appear on both their cheeks. “You’re still human and you deserve to live a normal life.” 

Yeah, whatever you say.

They wouldn’t see Andy again for another 2 days, but Janus wished it had been never. 

Remus forced them onto the mule to drive them around on the uneven terrain with relative ease. Remy had sat on the back, leaving his cellmate upfront with their eerily quiet master. He always ran his mouth, especially when Roman wasn’t around, but he kept his lips sealed. Only speaking to bark orders. Such a drastic personality change unsettled Remy, what with his nervous fidget of tapping his leg and death grip on the side of their ride which whitened his knuckles. Whereas Janus remained stoic, unable to form a single care in the world as they drove along. 

Dust kicked up and coated the front of the mule, which left Janus a bit thankful for the window on the front to protect them from the dirt. On the side though, he could feel the wind whistle past, tousling his unkempt hair, and coupled with the roaring of the motor, he could hardly hear Remus speak.

“We’re going to a special place, going to have some fun,” He began, almost as if the author was stalling for time because he too fears his own creation. “I have been dying to take you both out here, god! I can’t wait!” Remus laughed, his iconic maddening grin spreading across his features. “Roman hardly ever lets me do this, even if it’s just me, so bringing you two along.” He shuddered with a light blush, “It’ll be exhilarating, my darlings.”

One can hardly ever avoid the inevitable. Try as Janus might. 

His mind did the majority of the work for him in the aftermath. If he couldn’t remember it didn’t happen. If he couldn’t recall how cold Andy’s body felt. How stiff it had gotten; how pale and lose his skin had turned with faded purple bruises around his throat. 

Janus hunched over himself and scrubbed until his genitals were raw and bleeding. 

Anything to forget how Andy felt around him and the expression of pure panic and terror etched into his face. 

___________

“He’s sick, he needs to go a hospital,” Remy pleaded from the doorway of the bathroom, clinging onto the frame for dear life. Janus had been fine last night; he had given his love some time to process the fun time they had yesterday and now. Well, now, he was throwing up with trace amounts of blood in it, shaking, and covered with sweat.

“I’m a doctor, shut up and let me think!” He had made them all wear a condom, so it wasn’t like they could have gotten sick from him, and if he had then all of them would be in the same position. Besides, it wouldn’t have come on this fast. There could only have been one explanation. “What did you take, Janus?” He asked the barely conscious man who only groaned in response. “Damn it! What did you take?!” Remus shook him but received no response, nonetheless. Janus' head lulled backward as his body trembled. “Fuck.” He rested Janus on the tile, before rushing to the medicine cabinet. 

Inside the ibuprofen bottle was empty.

“You idiot!” Remus cried, slamming his hands on the counter, but no tears fell. Janus scream in pain and held his stomach as he turned over and puked on the floor. “Yeah, I bet it fucking hurts! You’re bleeding into your damn stomach!” 

“Screaming isn’t going to help the situation,” Roman said, standing behind Remy in the doorway. “Either kill him and toss his body with the rest of them or let him pass.” How could he ask that of him? This was his one true love!

“No, we’ll leave him with the tapes.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“I want his body to be found.” Of course, that wasn’t the entire truth. He had no intention of leaving Janus’ corpse in the hands of anyone other than him. The police would be closing in on that location soon enough, and perhaps they would be able to save his love’s life. All Remus knew now, was how useless he was to Janus. 

“Fine, it doesn’t matter as long as he’s dead, I suppose.” Roman waved them off and stepped away. “Come along, Remy, you’re going to assist in distracting me from this mess.”

“Yes, master,” Said man whispered, he gave one last glance to Janus before he followed Roman into his room. 

“I can’t take you anywhere while you’re screaming like this,” Remus sighed and went to his room before he came back with the anesthesia and syringe. “I’ll put you to sleep so you won’t feel any more pain-”

“No! I don’t wanna go out!” Janus screamed while clutching his side and kicking at Remus to keep away. “No more going out! No more! I’m done damn it! Just let me fucking die!” His pleas shattered whatever heart Remus had left, and it stilled him. 

“No, I won’t allow it. You’re mine.” He grabbed Janus' arm against his struggling and forcefully injected him with the drugs. Normally he would have placed an IV in case of emergency, but Remus doubted his love would have allowed for that. “Shh, it’s ok, it’ll all be ok,” He coed and held the other in his arms as he fell into the loving embrace of unconsciousness. “They’ll find you and make you all better, I promise.” 

When Janus finally stopped moving, he carried him bridal style to his car, only to find Roman stuffing something in the back.

“Dress him in this when you drop him off, it’ll paint a pretty picture,” Roman chuckled to himself and walked past Remus who couldn’t be bothered to care about his brother’s flair for the dramatics. 

He laid Janus on the floor in the back before he sped away to the home they loitered on occasion. They had about 4 locations to torture and kill different people, their home, the cabin, the shed in the back, and this abandoned house. Roman insisted they didn’t need it any longer and decided to use it for his scheme of taunting the FBI. Remus scoffed, it would be the death of them both, but at least his love would be discovered. Once he healed up, he would return for him. After facing his brother’s wrath, of course.

They pulled up the side of the house which was about an hour's drive from their previous location. It had overgrown vines on the sides, the roof rotting and caving in on certain parts and several windows broken in. Pretty cliché if you asked him, but hey, he wasn’t writing the story. Plus, it suited their more devious exploits well enough. He would have been sad to say goodbye to it, if it not for its current benefit. 

He opened the back and saw a box with a black dress and mask in it.

“Fuck, he’s an idiot.” He carried them inside then lifted Janus into his arms. “You’ll be ok, love.” He brushed some hair from his yellowing face and took a deep breath. There wasn’t time to dwell on his feelings now. “Just survive, so I can see you again.” Janus remained limp in his arms, not able to hold onto to him. His arm dangled at his side, while the other rested on his chest covered in a sheen of sweat. 

Once inside, he stripped Janus of his grimy pajamas and slid him into the dress. 

“Why did you have to do this?” He asked softly, caressing the scarred side of his cheek. “I thought I took such great care of you. I thought I showed you how much you were loved.” He sighed and kissed his head before positioning him in the box as comfortably as possible. Which wasn’t much, considering he was curled like an ancient monk about to be mummified alive. “I wish I knew what I did wrong.” 

Remus retrieved the blank mask, but before he covered Janus' face, he kissed him once more. It tasted rather disgusting what with the puke, but Remus didn’t mind. Due to the medication, Janus couldn’t return the kiss, but his master liked it better that way. 

“When you return, I'll dress you in that lingerie that I bought for myself,” He leaned back, basking in the unresponsive man before him. “I'll paint you in the makeup that's been sittin' on my shelf. And you and I will have a ball, I swear to God it's true.” He waved his arms around, fighting the tears that threaten to spring up. “'Cause baby, you were meant for me and I was meant for you,” Remus sang a portion of a song that explained him so appropriately, that he could have sworn his character was based on it. “Cold and wet and dirty, you're lookin' mighty purdy.” He slid the mask in place over him, a solemn hole filling his dead heart. “But I just don't understand why a dead guy’s gotta be the one true love for me.” 

Even if Janus passed, they would be reunited again. Fate would guarantee it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was probably the most effed up chapter I've written so far. I had to stop several times saying, "I'm really gonna put this out into the world?" But I did. I was going to be a bit more descriptive, but I decided to take a page from HP Lovecraft and be vague, as it instills more horror. I hope? 
> 
> The song Remus sings is Corspe Grindin' Man by Harley Poe. Great band if you're a gorehound. Would recommend them.
> 
> School starts back up next week and I'm moving tomorrow, so there might not be an update next week. I will try though.


	20. Present - Janus/Remus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus finally had enough of Roman's bullshit and decides to take things into his own hands. 
> 
> This chapter switches back and forth from Janus to Remus and so on. Fair warning. There aren't any real warnings for this, only guns and manipulation. 
> 
> Special thanks to SceneCiprano (wouldn't allow me to add them as a co-creator for this chapter???) and Phinphang666 (Whose Instagram is phinphang000) go check them out! They've been a great help in getting this story back up. I said I wouldn't abandon it and I won't.
> 
> If you wanna help with future chapters or just wanna know what happens/see my wips, join my baby discord, would love to have you! ^^ https://discord.gg/zYBr299
> 
> But please don't be an ass and spoil things for others, that goes without saying, of course.

Patton paced the hall as he muttered nonsense to himself, and Janus wasn’t better off. Instead of pacing, he sat rigid on the couch, unable to process the simple understanding that Virgil had not come home last night. There could have been numerous reasons or theories, if not for the fact he disappeared not long after his master had escaped custody. 

Roman had taken his brother in place of him. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, he knew. He never wanted to admit it, but he knew he was a replacement. A surrogate. God, Virgil was with his masters and enduring the same things he went through. 

Worry for his brother overshadowed his self-loathing. He recalled the pain of the first year as he absentmindedly traced a scar over the fabric of his t-shirt; would Remus handle his torture or would Roman force himself on Virgil? Knowing him, that outcome was almost certain. Janus had never known the brothers as the patient types. They took what they wanted. 

“Janus? Janus, are you here with us?” A somewhat familiar voice called out to him amidst his inner turmoil, but he recognized that stuffy suit.

“Yes,” He said before he wrapped a blanket tightly around himself and kept his gaze anywhere but on the agent in front of him. 

“How are you doing today?” Thomas sat in front of him, leaned back in his chair with one leg crossed over the other. He waited for the other to respond, but it took some time as he focused on Logan hurriedly removing Patton from the room. Muttering something about how they are looking for Virgil. 

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” He responded when the silence continued to drag on. 

“Hey, don’t shut down on me, I thought we were past this? It’s me, Thomas, you remember me, from the hospital. I’m not expecting you to say anything in particular, ok? I just want to talk, have a conversation, man to man.” A simple conversation, he could manage. “So, how are you doing?”

“I’m…” Janus sighed and held the blanket tighter to himself, his previous words shoved away somewhere. “Sad.” This guy was not his therapist, he should keep his mouth shut and refuse to speak.

“Do you miss your masters?”  
  
________________

“Damn it!” Remus bit his fist and resisted the urge to smash his phone onto the wall across the room which would not have ended well even if it was only a burner phone. “Where the hell is, he...” He took a shaky, deep breath to try and calm his racing heart. That had been the fifth and final number he had available to make contact with Roman. It seemed futile. 

Sitting and waiting for Remy to return seemed to be his only option at the moment, not that he had long to be patient for his little slave as he heard the click of the hotel door being unlocked. 

“Fucking took you long enough,” He growled, and Remy ducked his head, shifting his weight off his bad knee which had neglected to heal properly after Janus had performed his impromptu suicide attempt. “What did you learn?” 

“Patton is, of course, staying with him, but Logan is as well and armed with a pistol he keeps on his waist, presumably at all times,” Remy said in an almost inaudible voice. 

“Do you know anything else aside from that?” He bit his fist again, rocking back and forth as nervous energy wracked through him. 

“Yes, um…Virgil has gone missing and master has escaped police custody.” Remy closed his eyes tightly when he had finished. 

“What?”

“I’m sorry, that’s all I know, please forgive, master.” Remy fell to his knees, pressing his forehead against the filthy motel carpet underneath him in a poor attempt at begging for mercy for a slight of simply not knowing everything the universe had to offer; it almost made Remus' stomach twist in a knot. Almost. 

“Get up, if Roman wants to play this fucking game, then I can too.” He grabbed Remy underneath his arm and dragged the weakened man to his feet. “We’re getting Janus back if it’s the last damn thing we fucking do.” He wasn’t lying before; fate would reunite them. All he planned on doing was speeding things along. 

Janus POV

“Of…Of course I miss them,” Janus whispered and rubbed his hand against his sweatpants. He had picked that nervous tic back up at some point, he couldn’t recall. 

“Are you jealous?”

“What?” Janus’ head snapped to the side as he rubbed his hand faster.

“Are you jealous that Roman risked everything to kidnap Virgil instead of you?” Jealous of that? Of course, he was jealous! Roman used him as a sick fantasy in place of his actual brother and now that he had his brother, he had completely forgotten about coming back for him! He disposed of him as he if he were another random victim from the pile. He was furious!

“Yes,” Was all Janus said, swallowing the words racing through his head. It came out barely noticeable, but the agent simply nodded, appearing to have heard him just fine. He may not have understood everything he was feeling, but he knew one thing. Anger. Burning in the pit of his stomach that spread through his entire being. It had to have been the jealousy, that was the single thing that made sense or did it? God, just stop!

Gunshots punctuated his thoughts. One, followed by another, and Thomas immediately stood with Logan rushing into the living room.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Sanders! Just let me have my baby and we can leave without anyone having to get hurt.” Remus shouted from outside and Janus subconsciously tensed further, but he couldn’t decipher why. 

Thomas scoffed and both him and Logan held their pistols.

“You know we can’t do that, Adimos!” The agent yelled back through the door before another shot rang through the air again, but it appeared as though he wasn’t shooting at the house. However, Thomas remained unphased. 

“I’ve got a hostage; the next shot will be through his goddamn skull if you don’t let my love come to me!” Thomas shared a glance with Logan before Remus continued. “Speak for them, slave! Tell them you’re dead if they don’t release him.” 

“Pl-please! He won’t kill Janus,” Remy’s voice pierced through Janus’ ears and everything drowned out.

“I won’t allow another person to fall into your hands!” Thomas opened the door slightly and kicked it the rest of the way open before ducking to the side. “Let him go and we can talk about this, please.” 

From where Janus sat, he could stare directly outside and survey the situation if he so pleased, but he couldn’t have been bothered. 

“You shoot that hostage and your ass is dead too. I guarantee that and you will never see Janus again, but if you surrender now, I promise you will be able to speak to him.” Thomas breathed heavily, poking his head out to view the state of Remy who trembled uncontrollably in their master’s grip.

“You just made a big fucking mistake, Janus come, now!” 

He couldn’t disobey a direct order. Everything became distant, his blanket dropped to the floor as he stood and walked towards the door with the world distorted around him. He met Logan’s ice blue eyes briefly as Thomas gripped his arm in a vice which almost pulled him from his trance, but he didn’t understand the point anymore. If Remus wanted Janus, Janus he would have whether any other person allowed it or not, so why bother fighting it. Besides, wasn’t this what he wanted? To be needed. To be used. 

“Let him go, Sanders! This is between him and I,” Remus called out and met his dual-colored eyes. There were dark bags underneath his master’s eyes which mirrored his own, bleached white streak fading as his hair’s natural color took over, and hands shaking with a finger on the trigger. 

“Please.” Janus turned to face Thomas who shook his head.

“I know you’ve been through a lot, but this isn’t what you want.”

“I don’t want Remy to die too, so please.” He weakly attempted to pry his hand from his arm with no such luck. “Please, just let me go, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you where Virgil is anyway!” Tears clung to his eyes while he tugged his arm back, but Thomas held him firm with an unreadable expression. 

“You’ll never tell me anything. I hope you can forgive me someday, Janus, you and all the other victims I hope to find justice for.” He dropped his hand, releasing the others arm with small indents from where he had grabbed him. “Go.”

Without sparing any of them a second glance, he rushed out, ignoring Logan begging him to come back. Instead, focused on how Remus pushed Remy away after handing him his gun and how he held his arms open for the smaller man to slot himself perfectly against him. His strong arms wrapped around his waist securely, but Janus was overwhelmed with emotions he could not describe if he tried. 

“Keep them off our asses,” Remus ordered as he ran his fingers through Janus’ hair. “Don’t worry, I won’t let them keep us apart, any longer, my love,” He whispered, a stark contrast to his earlier shouting. However different, it comforted him regardless, washing over him amidst the chaos and placing him at ease.

________________

“Remy, please, lower your weapon,” Thomas pleaded, but Remy, the ever-obedient slave Remus trained him to be, shook his head.

“We’re going to the car now, love.” He kissed his head, wanting so desperately to keep him in arms. To shower him with the love and affection he deserved after everything he had been through, but now wasn’t the time. The only response Janus gave him was a small nod, face buried in his disgustingly neon green jacket, but still compliant as they slowly stepped back towards his car. Remy following when Remus snapped his fingers, gun still aimed at the two-armed men in the house before them. 

He reached into his back pocket, one arm still wrapped around his frozen partner, to pull out the keys to unlock the car and gently situate Janus who remained pliant when Remus buckled him in. What happened next was a blur of rushing to the other side and ordering Remy into the vehicle, begging no reinforcements were on their way in the safety of his own head as he hit the gas.

Remus avoided major highways and stuck to the backroads, hands gripping the steering wheel in a vice which only loosened when they were almost at the cabin. He hadn’t bothered to focus on how Janus might have been feeling regardless, for fear of the cops tailing him but Remy stepped in. Attention solely on the crying man, whispering sweet nothings Remus couldn’t hear and rubbing his arms soothingly from behind him.

It crushed him. Above all, he wanted to comfort and care for his love, but it had to wait because now he had to focus on driving and trust that Remy could keep him somewhat calm during the long drive.

They avoided the police until they finally pulled up the gravel driveway, and Remus melted once the car was stationary. On the front porch sat his brother, smoking a cigarette and staring daggers at them as if he had any place to judge Remus after placing them all in harm's way to obtain some random prize and obsession he refused to drop after all these years. No, the fucker had no right.

“Let’s go inside, my love.” Remus stepped out along with them and matched the intensity of Roman’s glare as they stepped onto the porch.

“So that’s where Remy went.”

“Yup.”

“We need to talk-”

“Later,” He snapped, surely Roman had to guess he wasn’t in the right mindset then to discuss anything pertaining to the FBI on their trail. No, it could wait.

Once the door shut behind them, Janus fell to his knees and sobbed loudly while Remy stared up at Remus in fear.

“I’ve got him, go.” Remy nodded and walked into Roman’s room. Meanwhile, Janus tried and failed to stifle his sobs, forcing out broken apologies and half-spoken words to avoid some sort of punishment he assumed was coming. “Baby, I’m not gonna hurt you, come here.” He kneeled beside him and pulled the other into the safety of his arms where he could ensure no one hurt him. At that moment, nothing else mattered. Only the perfect man held close who continued to cry as Remus comforted him.

“Don’t let me go, please, don’t leave me again,” Janus begged, “I can’t make it without you.” Remus sighed softly and planted a soft kiss on his head before slowly pushing him back far enough so he could see his tear-stained cheeks and the multicolored eyes he so adored.

“I will never leave you again.” Remus caressed his scarred cheek and relaxed when the other leaned into the touch. “I promise, love.” He leaned in and captured his lips in a kiss which Janus eagerly returned for the first time since his imprisonment. For once, he allowed himself to finally have something pleasant. Something his brother could never take from him regardless of how hard or desperately he tried to, Remus wouldn’t allow his filthy hands to taint his beautiful angel again.

This was not what he agreed to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might be asking yourself, "Nik (that's my name, don't wear it out) What the absolute fuck!!????"
> 
> and uh, you'd be justified in that. I just kinda bailed for two months. Long story short, I had a mental health crisis and just dropped everything I loved besides drawing. Not fun, but I'm bouncing back.
> 
> I also took the time to rewrite the plot with the two other people mentioned in the summary so now it has a happy ending!


	21. Present - Janus/Remus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman has 'fun,' and Remus deals with an old problem. 
> 
> Warnings: Rape, sort of incest but they don't touch each other, and implied torture.
> 
> Phinphang is amazing! She helped tremendously with this chapter, wouldn't have been able to get it out this soon without her help. Go check her out on Instagram! PhinPhang000

There were voices, faint, but ever-present in the back of his mind, arguing about something Janus couldn’t have been bothered to care about. Not that he would have had the energy, everything swirled around him leaving him shaking and unable to focus on a single thing in front of him. Perhaps a result of the drug Remus decided to pump into his system. That was probably it.

Despite the cloudiness, his legs ached and he could feel bruises blooming on his hips and neck. He might not have remembered much, but he knew he was good and that’s all the comfort he needed. 

Suddenly, someone dragged him to his feet, and - oh fuck, he couldn’t feel his legs.

“The hell! Be careful, fuck brain! Last I checked, he’s not your toy anymore!” 

“You baby him too much. He’s fine.”

“Don’t fucking forget the deal. If I find a mark on him that isn’t mine, I’ll gut you where you stand and force you to eat your own intestines!”

“So dramatic, but yeah, whatever.” God, he didn’t care, all he wanted to do was fall back asleep under Remus’ soft blankets. “Aw, princess, are you tired?” A hand gripped his jaw, but his eyes slipped shut lest the sudden shift make him hurl. "Don’t worry, we’ll sober you up before we get to the real fun.”

Fun..?

The hand released his jaw and allowed it to lull forward against his chest. Before he could fall back into the safety of unconsciousness, his feet were lifted off the ground and he rested in the arms of a much stronger man than him. The shift again caused his stomach to painfully constrict and it took everything in him hold back from throwing up on his master who appeared to give not two shits about him at the moment. 

He blinked and they weren’t in Remus’ room anymore. 

After downing a few glasses of water like he was told, his wrists were then restrained apart from each other. 

Janus blinked a few times, willing his eyes to focus enough to confirm his suspicions.

Roman’s room. 

He was kneeling on the floor in front of the bed, wrists cuffed to the bed posts. A few tugs made it clear there wasn’t a way to free himself without breaking his wrists, but he wasn’t too disappointed. Even if he escaped they would just catch him again.

Janus shifted and continued to glance around the room. 

Where was his master? 

Looking down he noticed he was still fully clothed which was weird enough in its own right. 

The door burst open and something crashed onto the wooden floors with an almost inaudible grunt. Janus flinched and looked up.

No.

No, he was sober now. 

“Virgil..?” His voice sounded foreign, quivering, and scratchy from underuse.

His brother’s body trembled, hair matted and tangled with his skin covered in bruises. Why did he look like that? It hadn’t been too long, right? He couldn’t have broken him already. 

“Vir...Virgil,” he repeated and this time garnered a response, albeit it was nonverbal as he only lifted his head to meet Janus’ dual colored eyes. From there he could see the dark bags under his eyes and a glazed thousand-yard stare Janus was all too familiar with. 

Roman entered shortly after dropping his brother and locked the door behind him.

“How cute,” he cooed with a sickeningly sweet grin, “Finally reunited! So sorry it’s under such,” He cocked his head as if to ponder his words, “grim, circumstances.” Roman for once allowed himself to laugh freely, stalking over to the still trembling Virgil. “Only two days, tsk tsk. Thought he would’ve lasted longer. You know how much I love it when they fight back.” 

Roman must have seen the horrified look on Janus’ face since he sneered. 

“Oh stop that, you knew this was always the goal.”

Janus looked back at virgil, eyes stinging with tears. Another laugh from Roman shocked the afraid men. 

“You should have seen him!” His master pulled Virgil up by his hair and, of course, he cried out, struggling weakly against Roman’s grip. “Our first time was truly enchanting, but he wasn’t exactly as...what’s the word? Lively! He just wasn’t as lively as I wanted him to be. He just LAID there. At least you fought back for a while. So, I’m trying something else. Twelve hours on one of Remus’ toys has our dear Virgil more than sensitive! He’s just dying to finish-

“Oh right! Didn’t exactly let him finish either, he really did believe me when I said I’d kill his poor brother if he came!” 

Virgil took ragged breaths, digging his nails into Roman’s arm hard enough for his hand to shake violently. 

“Fu-fuck! You!” he spat. 

Roman released him, hissing and rubbing his arm before laughing again. 

“It’s already working like a charm! Look, dear Janus,” His master cheered, sparing a glance at his restrained captive. “They’re almost exactly like the scratches you gave me- twins am I right?!” 

Janus ignored him in favor of struggling against his cuffs, despite them digging into his wrists painfully. 

“Virgil, please!” Virgil panted and raised his head to meet Janus’ gaze once more, forcing a weak smile. 

“H...hey…” 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry-” Janus whispered, finally allowing his tears to fall and wash away the thin layer of grim in their wake. This was his fault. He could have prevented this. Prevented his brother’s suffering. He could have given the police names, at least, even if he couldn’t spare locations given he had no knowledge of where this cabin actually was or even what state. Now though, due to his incompetence, his master-

No…

Roman, had Virgil. 

And it was all his fucking fault.

“Adorable,” He purred, kneeling next to Virgil and petting his hair which caused the other to flinch. “Now, let’s get the fun started shall we?” Roman stood back up. “Virgil, be a dear and fuck your brother for me. He’s more fun a lay than you’d think.”

Janus’ face fell, breathing picking up. He could put up with a lot of things at this point, but his brother-No, he didn’t want to think about it.

“No, no, please!” He cried, sobs ripping their way from his throat while Virgil simply curled in on himself in an effort to hide his tear-stained face from their captor. his body shaking uncontrollably.

Roman burst out laughing, holding the wall as he wiped tears from his eyes. 

“JESUS CHRIST- holy fuck! I needed that, you should’ve seen your faces! God, that was comedy GOLD!”

Janus stared at Roman, dumbfounded. 

“No, no, sorry Jan, but I’m the only one who gets the honor of touching Virgil so, intimately.” Roman’s hand glided over the still crying Virgil’s back. 

Janus just sat there, tears still pouring down his face as he waited for whatever Roman actually had planned. 

“Instead, we’re going to play a game.” Roman grins. “Get up on the bed, storm cloud.” 

Virgil struggled, and it was clearly painful as hell, but he managed to climb onto the bed despite his legs hanging like dead weight. 

Janus watched, too shocked by Roman’s ‘joke’ still, to do anything else. 

“Strip.”

Virgil refused to look at Janus as he weakly tugged off his white t-shirt and boxers, but Jan couldn’t blame him considering he kept his own gaze set firmly on the sheets in front of him. 

Roman cuffed Virgil to the same posts, laid on his back so they were forced to look at each other, only inches apart. What caught Janus’ attention though was the glimmer of a knife in Roman’s hand, pressed lightly against his brother’s neck.

“My dear little Janus, here’s how this is going to go. You look away, even for a second and I slit his throat. Understand?” Janus stills for a moment and met Roman’s eyes with what could have been considered a glare, albeit a meager attempt at one. “What? Have something to say, little slave? Go on, say it,” Roman whispered, voice laced with venom and repressed anger. “My brother isn’t here to coddle you, so go on and say it bitch. Give me a fucking reason.”

God, he wanted to. He wanted to spit in his face and call out his fucking bluff; no way, after all the effort he went into obtaining his brother would he end his life now over something as simple as looking away. Still, he wouldn’t test it, not yet. So, he lowered his eyes to meet Virgil’s and nodded, wiping away his tears on his shoulders. 

“I understand. Forgive me, master.” The words tasted bitter on his tongue and he certainly didn’t miss how Virgil cringed. 

“That’s what I thought.” Roman focused his attention back on Virgil, laying the knife on the bed beside them. “I will be watching.” He reiterated and Janus could feel the man’s gaze on him the entire time, even if he solely paid attention to Virgil. Each gasp and twist of his face, each moan, and sob as Roman violated him. 

‘Disassociate, please.’ He just wanted his brother’s pain stop, for him to stop reacting and giving Roman what he wanted. Virgil kicked and screamed until something gave. 

He went silent except for almost inaudible whimpers at each thrust, but his eyes weren’t cloudy. Instead, they focused on Janus. Then he felt Virgil slide his hands into his own and Janus gave them a soft squeeze, new tears clouding his vision. 

That night, Janus found the part of him-the little piece-he locked away and hid all those years ago. For the first time since, well everything, he understood. 

He was furious. Not jealous, not mad. A rage that consumed his every thought until all that remained was a desperate need to destroy Roman. 

“I’m sorry, this...this is all my fault,” Janus whispered, holding Virgil’s now semi-clothed body close to him. Roman had gone to bed and since the two wouldn’t stop crying or maybe he feared them killing his ass while he slept, the man kicked them out to sleep upstairs in the loft. There were two twin beds that were riddled with bed bugs, but neither complained. 

“Shut up, just promise me you aren’t still in love with that sick of a bitch.” 

“No, not after he-”

“Don’t say it, please…” Virgil buried his face in Janus’ shoulder and held him tighter before suddenly chuckling. “I wanted to understand, and I guess I do now. You were alone though, you didn’t have anyone to comfort you-”

“Virge-”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up,” He punctuated each word with a soft hit to his chest. “You had no one for years.” Virgil wasn’t wrong, before Remy and Andy the only other people consistently around were his captors, but he couldn’t understand his brother’s point. If he even had one that is. “I don’t care how many times he touches me, but he will never lay a hand on you again if I can help it.”

“I don’t need you to protect me.”

Virgil sighed and pulled back, his tears finally stopping.

“They’ll find us. I know they will.” 

____

Ok, call him paranoid, but Remus couldn’t stay still knowing his precious boy was in Roman’s hands even for a second without him where almost anything could happen. Well, he had a pretty good idea, but if there was even a single bruise or bite mark on his body Roman’s guts would be spilled across a dock for the entire world to see, then he’d shovel the rotten pieces into his mouth and watch him choke on his-

“Master?” Remy broke him from his thoughts, which didn’t piss him off too much considering he was about to start spiraling. 

“What?” 

“Would you like to stay here while I head inside?” 

“No, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen them, besides what would have been the point in tagging along? Now, step aside.” He waved his hand and Remy stood behind him. Beside the cabin was a bulkhead which he unlocked, dropping the chain onto the grass below. 

They descended down the stairs into almost complete darkness and-because the author is a total hack-a single light bulb illuminated the actually rather nicely kept basement. Though, he used the term nice very loosely. 

Stained carpet, bland stone walls, a laundry sink, and two grimy men with shredded clothes sitting on makeshift cots, chained at the ankles and wrists. 

“Where the fuck have you been, were you just gonna let us starve down here? I tell you, the fucking audacity to leave us with this disgusting garbage. We’re growing boys and we need food! Not this...I don’t even know what the fuck this is!” One man tossed a can of inedible, rotten gunk that had mostly likely expired years ago, at him, but it fell short.

“I will never understand how you haven’t learned to shut up already, perhaps another lesson is in order.”

The man grinned and spread his arms despite the shackles.

“Come at me bitch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Join my discord if you want! ^^  
> https://discord.gg/Vrc4XTn
> 
> Also, kinda glad I was able to get this out on a wednesday ha. Maybe I'll get back on schedule, who knows.


	22. Past - [Redacted]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins have their revenge. 
> 
> hmmmm, I disappeared again. Writer's block is a bitch T-T  
> There are only a few more chapters left, so hopefully, I actually write them- I said I wouldn't abandon this, and I won't. I refuse. Much too stubborn for that lmao
> 
> Anyway! Huge thanks to SceneCipriano and Phinphang666 for helping me write and edit this chapter! They're awesome ^^

“I love their little muffled cries,” Remus giggled, twirling the little wrench in his hand, “You cockheads have no idea how long I've waited for this!”

Mummy sobbed behind her gag and the black streaks of mascara running down her fucking face with her fake white-tipped fingernails made Roman gag.

Both Mummy and Daddy were bound and gagged at opposite ends of the dining room table. On the said table was a selection of many exciting toys and trinkets just begging to be used.

Roman circled Mummy then gripped her hair to yank her head back, “Women are truly disgusting, so fucking fake and so quick to abandon their own family for the perfect little image in their head. Tell me, did your little fantasy life play out just how you liked, mum?” Roman held one hand out back towards Remus expectantly, “Cause this is all I ever dreamed of since you abandoned us.” 

Remus grinned, “Care to take the first blow, brother dearest?” He passed the wrench to Roman and Daddy began screaming behind his gag. “Don’t kill her though, I have so much in store for them.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Without much class, Roman bashed the wrench onto her shoulder until they both heard a pleasant crack then switched sides all while Mummyscreamed and cried until Roman seemed to wear himself out, dropping the wrench onto the floor.

“The apple thing or whatever the hell you call it.” Again, Roman held his hand out blindly.

“A simple please would be nice-”

“Shut the hell up, and give me that fucking thing before I use it on you instead.”

Remus clicked his tongue, “And it’s called the Pear of Anguish. Not an apple.” It was a piece of iron shaped like a pear with spoon-like segments that were operated with a screw on the end and it was designed to fit quite snuggly in the mouth. At first. Then with each twist and turn, it would expand to force the mouth farther apart, until the pressure caused the jaw to snap. 

Amazing what you could buy online.

When Roman removed the gag, Mummy clenched her jaw tightly, anything to keep that thing away from her mouth which was almost admirable if not extremely annoying. Despite her efforts though, they had ways of making people comply, but it was nothing special. Roman held her nose to cut off her airway and if the bitch wanted to breathe, she would be required to open that deceitful fucking mouth of hers. Oh and when she did, gasping for air, her face a pleasant red, Roman shoved the tool into her mouth before she could scream. Not that it didn’t stop her from screaming behind the iron on her tongue.

“Not too fast, you want her to feel her jaw-breaking ever so slowly,” Remus hummed and didn’t miss the louder cry from mum and dad. “Oh, I’m sorry, daddy! Didn’t mean to forget about you-” Re patted Roman’s shoulder, “You got her, right?”

“Of course.” Roman grinned and began twisting the screw while Remus began to dig through his torture kit. Now what to do, what to do-Ah! A menacing smile split Remus’ face as he tugged out a rather large clamp meant for holding things in place.

“This will do just nicely~” Remus hopped up and over to daddy’s side, “Gonna screw you too, don’t worry, daddy- Oh that was dirty, wasn’t it? Oops! Though, I’m pretty sure my language isn’t what you’re worried about right now.” Remus leaned in his face, admiring the absolute look of terror etched in his eyes. “Just hang in there, old man. You’ll get your just desserts as well.”

Now his head, or his hand, or maybe another body part-

The front door slamming shut rang through the house, both brothers freezing in their actions and meeting each other’s gaze with an eerie head turn, but where they should have been terrified, they were excited.

A new toy.

Daddyscreamed behind his gag to warn the newcomer, but they didn’t stop, instead, they were singing obnoxiously to whatever song they were listening to. “When monsters are loud, they're really quite delightful. It's the silent ones that kill you. So please do watch...out…” 

A boy halts in the doorway, dressed in clothes that would never clue you into how spoiled he was; he looked like a homeless prostitute, unbefitting for his fucking replacement. 

The boy tugged his noise-canceling headphones down to his neck, slowly backing up as his face contorted in horror and possible recognition. “What…”

A shit-eating grin split Remus’ face. “Run~” 

The boy took another step back as Remus set down the clamp. He didn’t need any tools. No, his hands would do just nicely. 

“Come on, run. It’s so much more fun when you do.” And like that, the boy bolted to the side, not back towards the front door where he came, but down a hallway. 

Remus whooped in excitement and jumped over the table to give chase to this boy, even skidding across the hardwood floor of the hallway, causing him to almost lose his balance, but he managed to regain it just in time for his replacement to slam a door in his face. He laughed and tried the doorknob, it turned, but Remus couldn’t open the door. 

"You think holding it closed is gonna stop me?!" Remus pushed against him and managed to force it open a bit, but the boy pushed it shut and held the doorknob with one hand. “Either stop fighting, or you’re dead alongside our _lovely_ parents!"

"The fuck is wrong with you, [Redacted]!!??" Oh my god he couldn’t say his fucking name here?! Fine how about- "LEAVE ME ALONE YOU COCKSLUT!!!"

Remus cackled and rammed his shoulder against the door trying his best to force it open, “Kinky! Keep talking like that and I’ll have to make your session worse than dear ol’ mom and dad’s! NOW OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!” 

Anxiety gripped the boy’s heart, even more, he couldn’t let Remus in or give up so easily he needed to get his parents to safety or at least himself to fucking rat on those assholes. 

He glanced around the room, pressing harder against the door. Thankfully, he had run into his parents' master bedroom, the old-timey velvet decor standing out against the white walls.

‘ _Shit shit, where did dad say he keeps the gun?’_

“The crawl space!” 

The boy glanced down at the doorknob and over to the master closet that held a tiny door, leading to an even tinier crawl space. 

He took a deep breath and prayed to every god he knew before releasing the doorknob and racing over to the closet. The boy didn’t look back when he heard Remus break through the door, only focused on getting to the closet doors. 

He threw one open and quickly slammed it shut pressing his mother’s shoe rack against it to buy himself some time. 

“Hiding in the closet? Come on-” The door jostled as Remus attempted to open it, but the boy ignored him in favor of ripping the small door open and grabbing the gun case his dad stored in there. He fumbled with the clasps but managed to pull the gun out, just as Remus started kicking in the closet door in a ‘here’s Johnny,’ kind of way. 

With trembling hands he shot twice at Remus, only taking a second to breathe when he heard a pained cry come from him. 

“AGH- YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT YOU CROTCH SNIFFING WHORE BITCH-”

“C-Creative insult, but I’m afraid I can’t let you closer-” 

“What the hell?” Roman had run into the room at the sound of a gun and laid eyes on Remus who had fallen backward, his right shoulder bleeding out onto the hardwood floor. “Oh, just great! Now we’ll have to clean that up! Jesus, you better not die, I don’t need _another_ dead body to worry about-”

“Oh THANKS for your concern- F U C K!!” Remus threw his head back out and screamed. He had to stop the bleeding, it didn’t feel any arteries were damaged, but he still needed to patch himself up. 

Roman had grabbed their own gun they kept just in case. Bought illegally too, so the police couldn’t trace it back to them. 

“I heard two shots, and I know for a fact dad only has a revolver with 6 chambers, so what’s that leave him at? Four left? Fuck-” The boy shot blindly through the doors and narrowly missed Roman who only scoffed in annoyance. “Two.” Roman raised his arm and shot the top of the closet. “Get your ass out here.” 

“You’ll have to drag me, kicking and screaming!” 

At that, Roman laughed. It started as a low chuckle until he was cackling like a madman and it actually started both men. Something like that was normal for Remus, but Roman usually kept a more level head about these kinds of things- “I have an idea, brother. Get out of here and stitch yourself up.” 

Remus didn’t need any more prompting than that, he dragged himself up and shuffled out of the room all while trailing blood behind him. Another gunshot rang through the house as Remus returned to the dining room, but he didn’t spare them a glance as he pulled out a first aid kit he had for emergencies such as this and he was silently grateful that his professor taught them how to do basic stitches. 

While Remus patched up the entrance wound, Roman dragged the unconscious boy by the arms back up the hallway with both guns in his belt. “Since you’re not useless, I hope you can at least handle the cleanup.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Remus winced as he finished the front stitches, “Care to help me out?”

“As if, you’re the one that got shot. Again. So, fix yourself, while I fill you in on my new plan.” Roman dropped the boy’s arms and grabbed a zip tie from their tool kit, “He complicates things, afraid we can’t let him go now. Plan A failed. So, plan B!” 

Remus rolled his eyes and sat with his back to a mirror, using that to roughly stitch the rest of him up. “Plan B? Do hold me in suspense-”

“We lock them in our basement. Both of them and use them till our heart’s content, it’ll be so much sweeter than letting them rot in prison.” Dad yelled behind his gag and Roman shot him a glare, choosing to otherwise ignore him as he zips tied the boy’s wrists. “Everything else will mostly stay the same though, get close to Virgil- all that good shit. Just now they’ll be kept as our little toys and honestly, that’s a crueler fate.”

Remus cut off his last stitch, “Fine by me, I just want them to suffer and to keep doing what we have been.”

“Good~” Roman grabbed a car battery from their little kit and set it on the table. “Let’s finish what we started.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Join my discord server if you'd like! You'll see where I am with updates and planning for this fic and other fics. You can also use the space to write and plan your own or just share ideas!
> 
> https://discord.gg/Vrc4XTn


	23. ON HIATUS

First, I would like to thank everyone who has been reading up until this point. Several things have come up in my life I need to work through and I do not feel passionate enough about the CURRENT plot of this story to finish this thread. That being said, I have every intention to still work on this but instead of the plotline I was going for, I am going to rewrite it with the original ending in mind. The one I am most passionate about. I will rewrite it chapter by chapter (excluding the first one) and when I am finished, I will post it to AO3. The rewrite will be significantly darker than what the story already is, I feel like in my mind the way the story is currently going is a cop-out. The twins were changed to Pryce and Teal instead of Roman and Remus and that is an idea I no longer want to write. 

I will keep the original up until I have finished what I set out to do, then it will be orphaned. Again, I appreciate everyone who has stuck by this and continued reading. Thank you ^^


End file.
